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Chapter Text

Aether lost their sister to that fucking cube goddess and she’s been gone for who knows how long. All they remembered was the clashing of swords and the feeling of utter helplessness that came with those god awful cubes consuming their sister as they were able to escape from the wench.

There was the feeling of emptiness when their powers were sealed away, as well as the feeling of barrenness when they woke up and could no longer fly.

They felt like utter shit and there was nothing they could do about it. 

When they first woke up in the world of Teyvat, they were on the sand. There was cliffs surrounding them and ocean spreading as far as the eye could see.

Aether was starving and did they first thing they could, hunt.

They crafted a fishing pole out of the longest stick they could find and braided together some twine from the nearby reeds.

It wasn’t a good fishing pole by any means, but it was only thing they had on them, besides their sword.

It was after a day of fishing, they found Paimon.

Well, caught Paimon.

At first, they thought she was a big fish. She was fighting against the hook line and they were determined to eat something different from the bass and salmon they’d been eating for a couple days.

( you can imagine their disappointment when instead of finding a fish, they found this weird ass faerie that ate away their supplies and complained about everything every five seconds ).

( they really couldn’t eat her, even if they really wanted to. she had feelings and couldn’t eat anything that had feelings ).

( they’ll just have to stick with taunting her about it instead ).

There was a couple issues, at first, with Paimon mistaking Aether as male or female instead of non-binary. It was after a couple of stern corrections, did she finally understand.

“ Paimon’s hungry Aether! Can’t you cook something already ?”

“ Paimon I can’t cook you anything, we don’t have any ,” They signed the word for ingredients. Aether was still trying to understand the language of this world. 

Paimon was generous enough to teach them some of the common sign language. Teyvat’s sign language was much easier to understand than it’s spoken language, surprisingly.

“ Paimon knows that, but we’re surrounded by grass and there are hogs you can hunt. You just need to ,” she trailed off. Occasionally signing things that Aether had trouble understanding. 

Aether got the gist of it and figured out their behavior patterns out rather quickly.

Pretty soon, they had enough meat to make steak and they eventually found a Statue of the Seven.

Paimon was rather fascinated with how Aether could resonate with the Anemo god’s power and use it, without the use of a Vision.

Aether explained that it might be because they were from another world, possibly an entire galaxy, that  they were able to adapt and understand the elemental powers behind this world.

“ That actually might be the case your aura is way different from anyone, or anything, Paimon’s encountered .”

Aether nodded along with Paimon’s ranting.

“ You were telling Paimon about your missing sister, maybe with the help of the 7 Archons , you’ll be able to find her. Especially if she was taken by an Unknown Goddess herself !”

Aether didn’t usually listen to the ideas Paimon had, but that was a good idea. They didn’t know how the Archons worked in this world, but if they had the power of a God on their side, they could take down whoever stole their sister from them.

( Paimon’s ideas usually suggested food or a way to get it, which is why they usually ignored her ).

( that, and her random tirades about how tired she was from walking when she fucking floated everywhere ).

“ That’s, actually a decent idea Paimon .”

Paimon cheered and danced in circles. 

“ With the help of the Archons , you’ll be able to find your sister in now time !!”

“ I sure hope you’re right Paimon. I really hope you are .”

They looked at the trail from the Statue and it lead to an open field. There, stood a city in the far distance.

“ That’s Mondstadt . You should probably head there. Their god is Barbados , which is the God of Wind. The Archon Statue you just interacted with, was his! You’re able to control the element Anemo !”

The more Paimon talked about the world and their gods, the more they were beginning to understand what was being said to them.

They were still struggling with a lot of the grammar and vocabulary structure of the common tongue of Teyvat. It wasn’t that easy learning a language that you had no prior knowledge about.

They wanted to learn the common tongue, but they only had Paimon to guide them into speaking it fluently. And they doubt anyone else would both teaching them.

Aether was fluent in the common sign language, and that was about it. Their actual speech was broken and sounded like someone dumbed a box of puzzle pieces on a tile floor.

Aether wanted to learn the common tongue, but Paimon, as much as they adored her, wasn’t the most reliable teacher in the world. They doubted that she knew everything about the common language.

Paimon saw Aether struggling, and offered to have a conversation on their issues, strengths, and what they can and can’t do.

The problem was, they couldn’t read or speak the common tongue, and could only understand a small portion. Not enough to hold a decent conversation down, but enough to not be completely clueless.

They decided, it was better for Aether to, primarily, remain non-verbal for the time being. Until they felt confident enough to hold their own in a conversation. Along with Paimon being their translator.

Paimon saw no issue with this, in fact she enjoyed it, seeing it just allowed her to fill in the space with her own noise.

Aether was more than happy to let her go on for about and hour at a time. She somehow managed to, slightly, fill the hole that was left when they were separated from their sister.

Gods, they missed her. They missed her alot.

( I wonder what she’s doing right now ).

( I just hope she’s not dead ).

Lumine watched over her sister sibling brother from inside the Abyss.

She was gathering her army, ready to take over this pathetic excuse of a world.

She saw what the future for it held. She saw what that fucking Goddess did to it while she was in the presence of it.

There was nothing that Cube Goddess wouldn’t do to finalize the destruction of this world.

Lumine was at war with destiny, and there was nothing stopping her from trying to conquer it.

She activated the eye of the Storm nearby to see how Aether was doing. It’s Eye was hers.

She saw Aether finally wake up, only to be talking to, Paimon.

Aether was walking, and talking, to that faerie Paimon. She They he? were walking the path she saw in her visions of himher them.

They were completing the path to destroy the world.

( god damn it Aether ).

( you were never one to follow the rules anyway ).

( then again, neither was I ).

“ They’re going to ruin everything by the looks of it .”

An Abyss Mage appeared behind her as she stood over her empire. The land dark and rocky, not a single plant or mortal life around. The only light coming from the sickly, green fires lighting up the paths to allow her monsters to come and go as they please.

“ I’m well aware of that ,” She curled her fingers, touching the images she held in her hand. Her fingers warping and distorting the visions of her sisterbrother sibling going through their path to destruction.

“ What do you wish to do, your Majesty ?” The Abyss Mage’s squeaked.

Lumine deactivated her vision. Hearing the Eye of Storm deactivate of the other side. Turning to face the Abyss Mage.

“ We’ll be sending out Dvalin early. After Aether activates the blood inside the dragon, order it to attack Mondstadt. Once their both in the sky, make sure Dvalin kidnaps Aether and brings them here .”

“ Make sure that dragon is gentle with them as well, if he hurts Aether in anyway, make sure the next wave of corruption hurts .”

The Mage bowed in response.

“ As you wish, your Majesty .”

Lumine nodded and the Mage disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

She turned back to look over her empire.

( Aether wouldn’t think it’s beautiful ).

( they would think it’s horrifying actually. Her empire goes against everything they ever stood for in the past ).

( but that was in the past, after all ).

Lumine chuckled to herself.

There was once a point in time where she was afraid of the dark. Begging to have Aether and her share a room. 

She remembered them getting her a special nightlight to sit on the top bunk with her, since the one on the nightstand was always died halfway through the night and was always too dark for her anyway.

Now, she’s ruling over the Abyss. An empire shrouded in darkness, with darkness by her side, casting heretical spells with heretical magic. Not caring about anyone or anything in the world besides a single goal in mind.

“ Oh dear Aether, we will be reunited .”

She held the clippings of their wings close to their chest.

“ I hope you, one day, find my kingdom as beautiful las I do. I hope you join me in my quest to save this wretched world .”

Lumine knew, deep down, Aether wouldn’t find her empire as the beautiful salvation she though it was.

Maybe, with enough time, she can teach theyhim her   to love the dark as much as she does.

Chapter Text

Aether was fighting the slime creatures and, whatever those two legged, furry, masked beasts were, when they felt a painful, pulling sensation coming from their chest.

( Paimon later informed him that those furry beasts were called Hilichurls ).

( She said she’d explain more about the beasts of her world the more they came across them, too confusing to dump it all on him at once ).

The sensation was almost, painful. Just walking made it so much worse.

It was only until Paimon pointed out what it might be.

“ Oh look! A dragon !”

The faerie pointed to the sky, and sure enough, there was a dragon flying overhead. It was bright blue and had three pair of wings.

They saw it land not too far from where they were standing.

For some reason, they started walking closer and closer to it, overhearing the dragon talking to s stranger.

By then, the pain in Aether's chest was almost blinding.

( Paimon was too mesmerized by the dragon to notice ).

( honestly, they would be too if they weren’t feeling so much hurt ).

They took one step forward to steady themself on the huge tree next to them, so they wouldn’t fall over.

( it hurt so much. it hurt hurt hurt hurt hurt ).

( everything was getting so much darker at the edges of their vision ).

The dragon must’ve also felt the same way they did.

The moment they steadied themself on the tree, the dragon let out a ferocious roar and soared away, knocking back the person he was speaking to.

( without knowing it, they did fall over. clutching their chest and struggling to breath ).

As soon as the dragon left, the pain in Aether’s chest simmered dow, but only a tiny bit.

It wasn’t until the dragon was long gone, that the pain started to dull.

The person the dragon was talking to wore green. A green hat, a green cape, green shorts. The white of their stockings and corset helped to break up the green. Their hair was a dark blue, the front braided, fading to a lighter blue.

Paimon turned to see Aether on the ground, death gripping the fabric above their heart. Their eyes wide, but unseeing.

“ Oh my gods! Aether are you okay?! Aether!! Why are you crying ?”

The moment Paimon opened her mouth, the stranger disappeared. Not is a puff of smoke way, just vanished the moment Aether took their eyes off them.

Paimon’s voice appeared to be far away, they wanted to respond, but for some reason they just couldn’t get their body to work.

Paimon tried to shake them out of their stupor, they managed to look at her, only moving their eyes.

Aether’s face was warm and wet. Presumably from the tears they were shedding. They also realized they were on the ground, curling into themself and their head stuffed with cotton. They only knew they were crying because Paimon was trying, and failing, to wipe their tears away.

They gathered themself enough to look up at Paimon, distress painted all over her face.

“ Paimon, I think I’m okay. Just, just hurting .” They signed with slurred speech ( ? ) and aching hands, so it actually came out like, “ P-mon, thnk ‘m kay. Ust, jss hrtn .”

That didn’t appear to help Paimon’s worry, but it did soothe her a little bit.

“ Paimon was worried about you Aether! Paimon didn’t know if you were going to respond or not! Paimon thought you had fainted !”

Aether rolled their head to lay back on the ground. The pain had dulled, but it was like all their strength was sucked out of them.

“ Do you need help Aether? You look like you’re struggling .”

Aether nodded and Paimon helped to pull them up. 

Paimon was surprisingly strong for a creature of her height and size. Aether feared how much she actually weighed with how much food she ate and consumed on a daily. 

Their  pretty sure if they left her to her own devices, she would eat the entire boar and fowl population of Teyvat.

Their head spun and they felt like they were going to fall over again once they stood straight up.

Paimon must’ve saw this, as she was under their arm and propped them upward again. 

“ Aether, you can’t stand. Maybe you should sit on the boulder to rest for a little bit .”

Aether complained with Paimon’s demands and placed themself on a nearby boulder. They deflated like a balloon once he sat down.

“ Aether, what happened? Are you hurt? What’s hurting? I turned around from the dragon and you were on the ground !”

Aether had to get their bearings together so they could answer Paimon. She deserved an answer.

“ There was a light pain in my chest that grew stronger and stronger the closer we got to the dragon. I took a step to balance myself on the tree, but that was when the pain became blinding and I fell over. I think .”

Aether steadied their breath, needing steady hands to sign to her, and Paimon hugged them.

“ Maybe it might have something to do with the fact you’re not from this world ?”

“ That might be it. That does make sense, but if that was the case, you hugging me right now would hurt too .”

Paimon nodded against their chest, and then let go.

“ We should get going to Mondstadt now that you feel better. We’ll find you some fresh water and something to fill your stomach .”

Aether nodded, that sounded like a good idea.

Something red, and shiny, caught his eye. It was in the spot where the dragon was before.

“ Hey Paimon, do you know what that thing is ?”

They pointed to the red light on the plateau. 

“ Paimon doesn’t know what that is. We should check it out !”

Aether walked over to the plateau, but they didn’t climb it. They weren’t at full strength yet, so Paimon volunteered to get the red shiny thing.

She came back with a crimson, tear drop shaped crystal.

“ Paimon has no clue what this might be. Is Aether okay with being in the presence of this? Since we can assume this was from the dragon .”

Paimon placed the crystal in Aether’s hands. They didn’t feel any pain from holding it, but there was a slightly, uncomfortable, buzz coming from the palms of their hands.

Aether shook their head, placing the crystal into their satchel.

Paimon squealed with joy.

“ Since now we know you’re only hurt by the presence of the dragon and not anything from this world, we should be good to go from now on! I doubt we’ll be seeing anymore of that dragon, so we’re off to Mondstadt !”

Aether nodded along, following Paimon to the city in the distance, it actually wan’t that far from where they were surprisingly. It only appeared to be a long journey since they were so high up from before.

The forest was nice to walk through. It was about midday, and the sun filtering through the leaves was beautiful to look at. 

Everything was super vibrant and green. 

( the sunlight through the canopy layer reminded him of the times lumine and them would watch the god rays filter through the clouds after the storms ).

( it was one of the good memories they shared with her, somewhere amongst the boat racing, the play fighting, and star watching ).

( they missed their sister a lot. probably more than they’d like to admit ).

The duo was maybe one or two kilometers away from Mondstadt when they heard a feminine voice yelling at them.

“ Hey you! Stop right there !”

There was a girl dressed in red, who jumped from the ledge to their right. She fumbled on herself and almost fell over.

She had long brown hair, with a red headband tied into bunny ears. Her entire ensemble was red, with brown and white. She had an big jewel dangling on her hip, and a bow strapped to her back.

“ May the Anemo God protect you stranger! I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius !”

She did a weird salute things while introducing herself. Aether shouldn’t be judging, considering they were from a different world entirely, possible a different galaxy, but seeing someone do a salute while introducing themself wasn’t all that common, especially when introducing yourself to strangers.

“ You don’t look like citizens of Mondstadt. Explain yourselves !”

Aether started to panic a little. They were stuck being non-verbal at this point. They grabbed Paimon close and signed as fast as they could, Paimon didn’t need to be told to translate though. 

“ We’re not looking for trouble .”

Aether wanted to say, “ we’re looking for the Anemo Archon ,” was that probably would have been suspicious to say.

A foreigner asking to see their god. Totally not suspicious at all.

Amber was already, kinda, glaring at them. Aether figured it wasn’t common for someone to be non-verbal.

“ That’s what they all say .”

Fuck, they were right.

They signed, “ Hello. I am A-E-T-H-E-R .” Spelling their name with each individual letter at a time.

According to Paimon, they’d have to spell out all their names. Yes there were objects that could be considered names, like crystal, but it was a person, they’d have to spell it out.

Paimon was ready to translate, when Amber spoke first.

“ Aether? Doesn’t sound like a local name to me, and this mascot, what’s the deal with it .”

Aether did a little tap dance, Amber giving them a side glare.

They let out a little squeak-like noise and clapped their hands together fast, then flapping them. That was their happy stim, used when they were, well, happy.

( she understood sign language, thank to gods!! )

Aether signed again, “ We’re friends !”

Paimon nodded, “ We’ve only been traveling partners for two months, but we’ve already become the best of friends !”

Aether grabbed Paimon and hugged her tight. Quickly signing into her skin, “ Maybe you won’t have to be stuck translating anymore if more people understand sign .”

Paimon nodded into their arm, sighing in relief that she wouldn’t be stuck doing all the work.

Amber was eyeing at them, probably trying to guess what Aether just tapped on Paimon.

“ So to sum it up, you’re traveling partners, right ?”

Aether nodded, signing Yes , for good measure. 

“ Well look, there’s been a large dragon sighted around Mondstadt recently. It’s best you get inside the city as soon as possible .”

They knew about the dragon for sure. The fucker’s pull really hurt.

“ It’s not far from here, I’ll escort you there .”

Paimon’s face visibly showed mild shock.

“ Oh? Aren’t you out here for some other reason ?”

Aether was thinking that too, actually. It’s understood that outlanders are not welcome, it was all too common for them to be met with hostility, rather than hospitality. 

The sudden 180 in tone was a little weird though.

“ I am. But not to worry, I can keep you both safe while doing that too .”

She turned to look at Aether.

( jeez, could you stop glaring so intensely? we just got here ).

( seriously though, were not going to kill you ).

( i’m just looking for my sister ).

“ Besides, I’m still not sure I can trust you two yet !”

Aether cocked their head to the side, pressing their lips into a thin line.

“ We just met you? Isn’t that a rude way to speak to guests ?” Aether signed, hoping to not come off as rude themself while speaking.

Or well, signing in this case.

( lumine always said they needed to work on their tone ).

( they’ve been struggling with tone for as long as they could remember ).

( i hope all that practice paid off )!

Amber seemed to understand where they were coming from. 

Maybe.

( why are other people so fucking hard to read )?

“ Oh ah, I’m sorry about that. That’s probably not something I should say as a Knight .” 

Amber scratched he back of her head.

“ I give you my apologies, strange yet, respectable travelers .”

Her voice came off a little, off. 

( fuck, was my tone off )?

Aether signed that they were sorry for their tone, and possible facial expressions giving the wrong idea.

Paimon was loud though, “ That sounded so fake !”

Amber pristled at the pixie’s words.

“ Do you have something against the type of language prescribed by the Knights of Favonius handbook ?!”

Aether frantically waved their hands in front of their chest, wide eyed. The hoped that it would come across they didn’t mind the language, just the tone was what they struggled with.

Paimon chuckled at Aether inability to read the, slight, tension between the trio.

“ Aether, you’re so dense .”

“ HuH h ?” Aether both signed and made a huffy noise to convey their confusion.

Amber, who decided to walk along side them, chuckled at Aether blatant confusion.

“ So, suspicious travelers , what are you doing in Mondstadt ?”

There was a floating, anemo, slime-thing in front of them. Amber shot and killed it, all while the duo tried to diffuse the tension.

The chest the found after killing the slime definitely helped.

Aether signed their story for Paimon to translate, while Amber sorted through the loot.

“ Aether got separated from their sister during a really, really, long journey. Paimon is their travel buddy, helping them to find their sister !”

“ So, you use they/them pronouns and you’re looking for your family ?”

Amber stuffed the loot into her pockets and looked Aether in the eyes.

They had to look away for a second.

( fuck, I forgot how hard it was to look other people in the eyes ).

Aether signed “ yes ,” twice, and then a third for good measure.

They climbed a nearby tree, offering an apple to Amber as a peace offering and, hopefully, being the first gift between a potential friendship between the two.

Amber took the apple, smiled, and then ate it. Clicking it against Aether’s when they raised it in the air.

“ How ‘bout this? After I finish my other stuff, I’ll help you put up missing posters around the city !”

Aether did their happy stim again, and then hugged Amber.

They signed “ Thank you! I’m so happy !” into her back, as she pat theirs.

She ruffled their hair after they parted. They ended up flapping their hands again.

( it’s been awhile since someone their size gave them pats ).

( i kinda miss the feeling ).

( lumine never really pat their hair. she always thought it was weird that a person would want someone to pet their hair ).

“ No problem Aether! Happy to help! Also, the things you do with your hands and your tap dances are happy stims ?”

They nodded, hoping that their stims wouldn’t scare away their new friend.

“ They’re so cute! I look forward to seeing them more often !”

They clapped, and Paimon did too.

( they liked their new friend ).

( hopefully, lumine will like her too once they got too meet ).

Lumine watched her sister sibling through the eyes of the anemo slime, only for this “ Amber ” so shot it point blank.

She heard the Amber was more than willing to help them put up missing person posters around the city and area of Mondstadt. She chuckled at the thought her sibling brothersister still attempted to go looking for her.

She it’stheyyouknowit’stheyjustusethey was still looking for Lumine. It was cute how she was still trying her hardest to find her.

( it was so cute really ).

( they will be reunited ).

Lumine sent a hilichurl to watch from afar again.

Aether was doing her, annoying happy stims again. Amber found it cute and endearing.

“ I wonder how a person can find someone so annoying, so cute .”

She cast the vision away, turning to the Pyro Abyss mage next to her.

“ It’s only a matter of time before everyone around my sister realizes how annoying she really is. They’ll discard her, wondering how hey got along in the first place .”

The Pyro Mage turned to look Lumine in the eyes, “ Your majesty, your sibling is non-binary correct? Why are you referring to them as a female ?”

Lumine glared at the Pyro Mage. Her eyes boring into his very soul.

If looks could kill, the Pyro Mage would have been dead fifteen times over. Not even the memory of his existence would survive.

“ My sister , always has, and always will be, my sister .”

Lumine leaned down to get close in the Pyro Mages face. Her hand caressing the mask with such malice, the Pyro Mage shook with fear.

“ Do you have a problem with that ?”

“ Absolutely not, your Majesty !”

Lumine let go of the Pyro Mage and put on her front of feigned innocence. A smile, cute smile hiding the cruel and malicious person underneath.

“ Good good! If you catch anyone calling my sister anything thing other than her name , make sure they are punished !”

Lumine’s faced her empire, she overlooked the muddy purples and grays of the Abyss. Turning her back towards the Pyro Mage.

The Pyro Mage stood in fear over his Queen.

He was often the victim of her rantings, saying how much she loved her sibling.

But the more and more he thought about her rantings, the more he began to see.

Lumine did not love her sibling, not at all. That was terrifying. With how she acted towards their gender, their name, even down to who they were as a person.

The Pyro Mage enjoyed watched Aether get happy and finally communicate their ideas. Even though they were on opposite sides, he enjoyed watching Aether succeed and make break throughs.

Lumin didn’t. Every time they stimmed, she would throw her sight away. Every time someone called Aether a they or person, she would scream that they were female. Every time Aether even looked happy Lumine got irritated.

All these details painted a horrifying picture in the Pyro Mage’s head.

Lumine did not want to be reunited with her sibling out of love.

Lumine wanted to be reunited with her sibling to control them.

Lumine did not love their sibling.

( why did i agree to work for someone, who was incapable of loving the only, living, breathing kin they had left )?

Chapter Text

The tasks Amber had to do included destroying a hilichurl camp that got a little too close to Mondstadt and talking to an Adventurer named Lynn.

Amber complimented Aether about the way they fought in battle. Aether blushed and signed a simple, “ It was nothing .”

It really wasn’t. Aether had been alive for, who knows how long. It’s just them honing their skills to a fine diamond.

Aether also picked up cooking pretty quickly too. Amber and Lynn were very surprised to learn it was their first time cooking something that wasn’t fish or mushrooms. 

Amber did say the skewers tasted really good and Aether was happy.

Even though they were a living creature, they were in alien. A being given immortality by an other worldly god. They didn’t need to eat. Eating was optional.

They were created to travel the cosmos, discover new worlds, never getting too attached to one world for too long.

( they remembered one time they got stuck on one world for decades with their sister ).

( it was nice to settle down for once, but it being against their will is what made them want to leave ).

The city walls of Mondstadt looked like a prison rather than a city, but considering Amber told them Mondstadt is it’s own city-state, it made sense that it needed protection.

The guards, like Amber, did give Aether a tiny side glare while walking onside. But because it was Amber escorting them inside, they didn’t stare for long.

The inside of Mondstadt was very pretty. The building were tall and close together, stone walls and redwood roofs. Some building had balconies with foliage dangling off the rafters. Carts and booths with miscellaneous items dotted the spaces in between the buildings. Nearby they could hear a blacksmith hammering away at a piece of metal.

“ Travelers under the Knights of Favonius, welcome to Mondstadt! The city of wind, dandelions, and freedom .”

Paimon did a little happy dance, “ No more having to camp outdoors from now on !”

Aether glared at Paimon.

They signed, “ Paimon, you cuddled with me the entire time. You snuggled in my hair and said it was the warmest thing ever .”

Paimon saw them sign this, but pretended to not see.

Aether smirked at the pixie. They signed, “ Fucker ,” to Paimon. Paimon shrugged with a neutral expression, a small grin forming.

Aether looked behind Paimon, noticing all the people inside Mondstadt. They all seemed rather gray, down. The city itself, on the inside, was gray and slightly dirty. 

“ Why does everyone seem so down ?” Aether signed.

Amber sighed, clearly not happy with the current state of Mondstadt. 

“ Everyone’s been scared because of Stormterror lately. He’s been very active around the city lately and everyone’s been terrified he might destroy us. But I believe we’ll be fine!

After all, we have Jean !”

Paimon cocked her head, “ Who’s Jean ?”

“ Jean is our Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. She’s the defender of Mondstadt. If we have her, Stormterror will be no match for us !”

Aether thought, with the way Amber was talking about Jean, was like she was kind of god among men. 

( this jean character must be really strong )!

( maybe she can help me find my sister ).

“ I have a present for you, as a thanks for helping me out with the Hilichurl camp .”

“ Why doesn’t Paimon get a reward ?” Paimon asked. She kicked her feet in the air. 

Paimon kinda reminded Aether of a little kid. Someone who complained when someone else got a reward for doing a good job.

“ Because this present is useless to you Paimon. I shall instead buy you Sticky Honey Roast from one of the shops we have here in Mondstadt !”

While Paimon was screaming about how good Sticky Honey Roast was, Amber grabbed Aether by their arm and started to take them to the city’s high ground.

The trio struck up a bit of small talk while walking to the high ground. It was mostly about Stormterror and how he’s been affecting the majority of the Mondstadt population.

“ I used to go traveling a lot with my sister before we were attacked by some kind of god. I miss her a lot actually .” Aether signed to Amber.

“ You were attacked by a god ?”

Wait, shit. They probably shouldn’t have mentioned that.

Oh well, the damage has been done.

Aether continued on with their story.

“ Yeah, at least, we think it was a god. She carried herself like one. She was terrifying .”

“ I have no clue what god you could be talking about. No god comes in attacking random travelers. Are you sure you’re not lying to me ?”

Aether nodded. They were being genuine, but also omitting some of the truth. They didn’t want to be hurt or cast out because they were an Outlander.

“ I can’t tell if you’re joking around or not, but you’ve been nothing but genuine to me since I picked you up. I’m going to assume what you’re saying is true .”

Aether beamed at Amber, giving her a thumbs up while they were at it.

The stairs were t a l l .

( how the hell do these people walk up this many stairs )?

( climbing was so much easier ).

“ So the present I wanted to give you was a winder glider! The people of Mondstadt, and Outriders use them to ride the wind .” Amber showed them a pair of wings made of wood and cloth.

“ Oh that’s why the present is useless to Paimon. Paimon floats everywhere already !”

“ Exactly .”

Amber handed them the glider, explaining how to use it. Jump off a high place, then sticking your arms out. This allowed the glider to pop out and rider the wind currents.

“ I’ll be waiting for you at the plaza. You’re going to do great !”

Amber ran and jumped off the stairs, showing Aether how to use the glider.

Aether studied the glider with extreme eyes. They weren’t their old wings, but they were close enough.

Their old wings were gold and white, these ones were dark brown tones.

They unfolded the glider, and jumped off the pedestal.

Gliding was the closest thing to flying they came across since loosing their wings. It was refreshing, feeding a starving person what they so desperately needed.

They almost ran into a building and landed near Amber.

“ You’re a natural at gliding, traveler !”

Aether beamed, signing “ Thank you ” , in response.

It wasn’t two seconds later when the sky began to darken and the winds began to pick up, going from a nice summer breeze, to violent storms.

Cloud grew denser and darker, painting the sky grey. Thunder was reverberating across the clouds.

The painful pulling feeling in Aether’s chest returned again. It came at full force.

The dragon appeared in the sky, his roar shaking the clouds and ground with its ferociousness.

Tornadoes filled Mondstadt, the pain increasing as the dragon came closer and closer.

The pain became too much, and Aether went boneless.

( not again ).

( not now ).

They gripped their chest, tears prickling at the corners of their eyes, threatening to spill out.

“ It hurts !” Aether screamed out in their native tongue.

It hurts it hurt it hurts.

“ Paimon, what are they saying?! What are they saying ?!” Amber didn’t understand what they were mumbling, their old language old and long forgotten. Paimon understood very little.

Paimon was shaking Aether’s shoulder, crying for them to get up.

“ Aether! You have to get up !”

Amber shook Aether, pointing to the sky. She pulled them to their feet.

“ Aether we have to get out of here! Aether !!”

One of the tornadoes was getting closer and closer to Aether, forcing Amber to run. She clutched Aether’s hand, hoping to prevent them from getting sucked up into the sky, but she was too late.

Her hands slipped past Aether’s fingers and they were sucked into the sky.

( pain, pain go away ).

( come again another day ).

Aether felt themself free falling through the sky, white clouds surrounding them. The ground of Mondstadt slowing coming closer and closer into view.

The pain in their chest, their heart, was threatening to overwhelm them completely.

“ Not now !” They screamed, activating the wind glider. They were fighting to stay conscious. They couldn’t black out now, not while in the sky.

Aether could hear growling coming from behind.

Stormterror screamed and Aether did too. 

The pain was far, far worse than before. They blacked out for a short time. Stormterror caught Aether in his mouth and flew through the air.

The pain from their chest, Stormterror threatening to squeeze them to death, and the cold from the storms sucked their breath away.

It all threatened to consume them. It felt like they were dying. 

But they couldn’t die here.

Not now.

Not yet.

Something sparked inside Aether.

“ N-not now, not now. NOT NOW !” Aether screamed, summoning their blade. They stabbed Stormterror inside the mouth, right beside one of the dragon’s canines.

( yellow sparks crackled against the dark clouds ).

( that lightning did not come from Stormterror ).

( your power has returned for a short time ).

Stormterror howled, releasing Aether from his mouth.

Aether felt like a bag in the wind, almost getting hit by Stormterror’s wings and his powerful tail. They willed their body to activate the glider, hoping not to fall from the heavens.

Stormterror flew back around, his purple blood flowing from the gash behind his teeth.

Purple would be inaccurate. 

The wound itself was an angry purple, but as the blood exited the wound, it became pure white. Seemingly cleansed by the gold light surrounding the injury and the tooth Aether had slashed.

The dragon was coming closer and closer, growing faster and faster.

( the pain in Aether’s chest was growing more and more dull ).

( you can save him ).

( y o u  c a n  s a v e  h i m ).

A voice whispered in Aether’s ear as the wind surrounding them grew denser and denser, keeping them a float in the sky.

“ There is no need to worry about falling, dear Outlander. I will keep you safe .”

Aether questioned the voice. It sounded familiar in a weird way. Their aura felt strangely familiar. But why?

How can you help?

The voice chuckled, somehow soothing Aether.

The winds blew over their hands, feeling like feather-light touches. The winds guided their hands, ghosting over their palms. Mimicking the weight of their sword.

“ Drop your wings, use your power. You can save him .”

Can I trust you?

“ Drop your wings, Outlander. I will keep you safe .”

With that, Aether dropped their wings, the winds surrounding them like an old friend. Without the glider, Aether was kept a float. Flying through the air.

Flying.

Since loosing their wings, Aether was flying, actually flying.

The dragon drew closer and closer, time seemed to slow down.

Aether felt power crackle through their finger tips, shaking the air around them.

Stormterror howled and Aether felt free.

They summoned their sword.

                              You are not the King of the Skies.

Stormterror came at them with full force, his teal eyes blazing.

Aether did not feel pain.

               They felt free .

I   a m .

Aether swung their sword and the air shook with power.

( the sky flashed the brightest gold ).

( all the Mondstadtians could do was watch with awe, as the sky lit up ).

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

No no no no!

That wasn’t supposed to happen!

She wasn’t supposed to save the dragon!

How did she save the dragon?! Did she even save the dragon?!

No no no NO!!

“ You were supposed to be weak! A useless cur !” Lumine screamed, as her connection to Dvalin shattered before her very eyes. The shards of her Sight cutting into her hands.

“ No no no NO !!”

Lumine shattered every single Sight around her throne room. The Eye of Storms, the Hilichurls, some Abyss Mages.

The Pyro mage watched as his queen killed several of her subjects in anger.

Aether had shattered her connection to Dvalin, and he saw Lumine’s anger consume her. 

Nothing was left in the throne room. She stood in the middle of glass shards, broken stones, and a chipped sword.

“ She wasn’t supposed to fight back. Not now. Useless cur! A fucking pygmy! Useless useless useless !”

She destroyed the pillars which her Sights used to sit on.

The stone cracked and crumbled until they were nothing but pebbles and stones.

Lumine stood, anger seething from her, face red with fury. Her grip on her sword turning her knuckles bone white.

“ She wasn’t supposed to fight back. She wasn’t supposed to be strong .”

The Pyro masked his fear behind a steady voice. He had an idea and stayed a safe distance away from his Queen.

“ Your Majesty, may I have permission to speak ?”

The Queen, stood straight, dust and dirt stuck to her skin, clothes, and hair, her skin slick with sweat. Her hands were bleeding from the shards stuck inside her palms. Eyes glazed with hatred and fury.

She turned to the mage, “ You may .”

The Mage stood up straighter and waved his staff around.

“ Might your sibling be fighting against it all for you ?”

Lumine’s eyes quirked up, “ Explain .”

The Mage cleared his throat.

“ Your sibling is fighting against the world and the atrocities you send into the world to find you. She doesn’t know you are the Queen of the Abyss. She thinks you might still be in the clutches of the Goddess you fought against .”

( it pained him to call Aether a girl ).

( he understood the pain, he was once female as well ).

( lumine would never know the truth ).

Lumine quirked up towards the ceiling. Sauntering over towards her throne. She sat upon it and smiled.

“ You have a point .”

Luminepat the head of the Pyro Mage.

“ Thank you for you insight, my fine friend .”

She tilted his head up. Her smile full of warmth.

( as much warmth as an Abyss Queen could bestow ).

( she terrified him ).

“ For your contributions to my army, and my being, I shall give you a name .”

The Mage kneeled before his Queen, ready to receive the highest gift. The highest reward for being the closest being to the Queen.

                              “ From now on, you shall be named…

“ Baskara .”

Chapter Text

Aether was falling and there was no pain.

Aether wasn't falling and there was no pain.

The winds swirled around them, hugging and keeping them close. The sky was humid with power, energy crackling and thundering through the clouds.

They opened their eyes, feeling warmth.

They were in a white area.

Limbo?

“ This is not Limbo, dear Traveler .”

Aether’s face was held between two hands. Those hands belonging to a person. A person in white, a flower in hair. Wings spread far behind them. Navy blue hair braided, fading to a lighter, glowing blue.

Their face was familiar. They knew who it was.

With them being this close, their eyes were iridescent. Green, but swirling with tones of teal and blue. The sky was reflecting in their eyes.

( they were beautiful ).

You’re the one. You’re from the forest. You’re the one who helped me in the sky.

“ I am, my friend .”

Where are we?

The person smiled, braids falling beside Aether’s head. Aether wanted to hold the person. Feel more of the warmth, but their body felt heavy.

They instead tried grasping one of the hands that head their face. Wanting to keep the warmth close.

“ We are in the sky. Far above the ground, you are in no danger .”

Aether felt like they were flying.

And they were terrified to fall.

Am I going to die?

“ You will not die here Traveler. You were not meant to die here .”

Aether felt like they were flying.

They felt like they had their wings again.

Why am I here?

“ I brought you here to thank you for saving my friend, Dvalin .”

I didn’t do anything though.

“ On the contrary. You somehow purified a part of him. I have never felt light, such power, as pure and warm as yours. It was beautiful .”

Aether felt like they were flying.

Aether felt like they were falling.

This time, for real.

It started to fade away.

If you let me go, will I die?

“ I won’t let you die here. I will provide you a save landing. You will not die here .”

They were falling, the white was fading away.

Will I see you again?

“ In due time .”

Aether was falling, the winds becoming denser and denser. The white of this world growing colder and colder.

What is your name?

“ The people of Mondstadt call me Barbatos, but you can call me Venti .”

And with that, Aether woke up. They were indeed falling, but it wasn’t scary. If anything, they welcomed it, but now was not the time. 

They twisted their body in the air. The winds provided by Venti helped steer them in the right direction.

They opened the wind glider, only a couple of meters before hitting the ground, and slowly drifted onto the pavement.

They landed on their feet, safe and sound in the city. The statue of the Anemo Archon towering over them, promising protection.

Well, safe as they could be.

The huge storm brought by Dvalin was still around, even though he was long gone.

Amber and Paimon rushed towards them, scanning their body for any injuries. Amber waved her hands up and down, seemingly wanting to touch Aether, but couldn’t. A small wince appeared in her face.

( why is she so hesitant )?

( why is her Vision glowing so brightly )?

“ Are you okay? Are you hurt? Injured ?”

Aether shook their head, they were completely fine. Even the painful pulling in their chest had seemingly evaporated.

Someone was walking towards them, slow clapping.

Their voice was silky and smooth, tanned skin and blue hair. An eye patch and a fur cape. Stars decorating their blue outfit.

( a rather exotic appearance ).

( it was elaborate and rare, even an Outlander must admit it ).

( aether themself stuck out like a sore thumb, but this person did too ).

“ You have the power to fight against Stormterror. That was quite the spectacle you performed while in the sky, Outlander .”

The blue stranger walked up closer to Aether and Amber. He was intimidating, even if he did have one eye. His stare was enough to keep Aether in their place.

“ Are you a friend, or a new deadly foe ?”

The stranger went to grab Aether’s face, but recoiled, like he was shocked.

( why was their Vision glowing so brightly )?

Aether dipped their head away, twitching from the cold.

“ I may not be the most magically gifted, but even a fool could feel the energy radiating off you .”

Aether cocked their head in obvious confusion.

Amber steeped between the two, “ Now is not the time. Kaeya, Aether, Stormterror is attacking Mondstadt itself !”

“ Sir Kaeya, you came at just the right time, we must protect the city !”

Kaeya steeped back, Amber following suit. Turning in the direction of the Knights HQ.

“ Now now Amber, you forgot to introduce me to your friend .”

Amber saluted again, “ Right! Aether, this is Kaeya, he’s our Cavalry Captain. Kaeya, this is Aether and Paimon. They’re both travelers from afar .”

Aether went and signed their story out, finally admitting they needed to find the Anemo God and ask him to help save their sister.

“ I see. Welcome to Mondstadt. I apologize for the time being .”

Kaeya chuckled, “ I’m not sure why you would need the Anemo God to find your sister, but I wont push for answers. That would be impolite .”

Aether felt really cold from being in the air for so long, and the icy air surrounding Kaeya did not help.

Kaeya looked at them strange, Aether winced at the awkwardness.

“ Sorry ‘bout that. It’s a thing I do. A stim, as they’re called .”   Aether signed

Kaeya nodded along.

“ I speak for the Knights of Favonius when I say thank you for you’re help .”

“ We couldn’t leave you behind. That would be selfish and cowardly !”

Kaeya chuckled, seemingly amused by Aether.

“ Your actions to defend the city was witnessed by all of Mondtsadt. The Acting grand Master is also very interested in meeting you. She has invited you to the Knights’ Headquarters .”

Aether beamed and flapped their hands, frantically signing to Paimon and Amber.

“ We’re gonna meet Jean !” Paimon squealed in excitement. 

“ Yeah, Paimon thinks this is so cool !”

Aether and Paimon ran off in some directions, before remembering they have no idea where the Knights Headquarters was.

They stood their for a second, Amber passing them, chuckling.

“ We’ll guide you to the headquarters. Don’t worry, we won’t allow you to get lost .”

Aether let out a sigh of relief.

On the way to headquarters, no one attempted to make any small talk with them. The silence between them felt extremely awkward. Especially since Kaeya and Amber decided to bite at each other.

Like siblings.

Standing a good distance away, Aether filled in their own silence, with a song from one of the worlds they’ve visited.

“ You were the brightest shade of sunlight I’d ever seen. You’re skin was gilded with the gold of the richest kings .” 

“ So you can talk ?” Kaeya laughed.

“ I can talk, however I’m not comfortable or confident enough in myself to not mess up my wording .”

Kaeya pursed his lips, “ But you know sign ?”

Aether nodded, “ Somehow, your common sign language was easier for me to pick up. I had an early agreement with Paimon that she would translate until I felt confident enough to speak .”

“ Ah. That does make sense. But do tell Aether, what tongue was that ?” 

Kaeya looked genuinely fascinated by Aether’s native language, but Aether didn’t know what it was called anymore.

It’s been so long.

“ It’s nothing special .” 

Kaeya took their word for it and didn’t press any further.

The inside of the Favonius Headquarters was juts as extravagant as the inside, but incredibly empty. There were only four doors and a stairwell at the end of the hall.

The door hey entered, held two women. One leaning on the desk, hair dust blonde and blue eyes. Carrying sword with gloved hands. Outfit all white with gold. A blue cape adorning her shoulders.

The other was a dirty blonde with green eyes, leaning on the railing separating the book shelves from the rest of the room. She wore a brough witch’s hat, outfit consisting mostly of purple and black, gold and lavender coloured roses dotting her skirts.

The room felt very humid the moment they all stepped in the room.

Kaeya explained to the two women the gist of what happened since they arrived in Mondstadt. Aether looked around the room.

Even though it felt stuffy and static, the place was clean. No dust insight, a nice quaint plant in the corner. Book shelves lined the walls and a huge window behind the desk.

“ Welcome to our city, Travelers. Thank you for helping Mondstadt, I am Jean Gunnhildr .” The dust blonde piped up.

Aether shook with excitement, rushing up to Jean and shaking her hand.

They quickly signed, “ We’ve heard so much about you! I think your the coolest !”

Jean recoiled her hand and shook it, it twitched like Aether had just electrocuted her. She then gestured to the woman in purple beside her.

“ This is Lisa Minci. She’s our resident Librarian .”

“ Why hello there cuties. I’d like to thank you for saving Mondstadt .”

Stop it, you’re making me blush!

Lisa Went to pinch Aether’s cheeks, but the amulet on her necklace sparked and blew Aether back, flying into the other wall. Luckily, Lisa and the others were unharmed.

They left a dent in the space they hit, dust flying in the air and Aether sparking with gold and white energy. Landing on their behind after sliding down the wall.

They shook the cement dust from their hair and sneezed.

“ Aether are you alright ?!” Paimon screamed, brushing the pebbles off their scarf and cape.

“ Holy shit .” Aether signed, laughing as they picked themself off the ground.

Lisa’s amulet was glowing so brightly. The jewel on Jean’s, Kaeya's, and Amber’s waist were glowing too.

“ Do you’re amulet’s normally glow this brightly ?”

“ They’ve never reacted like this before. What are you Traveler ?” Lisa’s voice laced with curiosity and slight fear.

“ Are you here to bring Mondstadt harm? If so, I will not hesitate to cut you down .”

Kaeya drew his sword and pointed the tip of his blade below Aether’s chin.

Aether pushed the blade away, “ I told you, I’m here to look for my sister and I need the Anemo Archon’s help to do it .”

“ I didn’t want to press further before, but after what just occurred, I need answers .”

“ Kaeya that’s enough. It was clearly an accident and the Traveler clearly does not mean us harm. Use your head! If they wanted to bring Mondstadt harm, wouldn’t they have aided Stormterror instead of fighting him !” Amber pulled Kaeya back, defending Aether from his ire.

“ His name is Dvalin, and he needs our help .”

Aether’s sparking had cooled down and their Visions had darkened, it was safe enough to be near others without the possibility of blowing more holes into Jean’s walls.

“ How did you know his name was Dvalin ?” Lisa questioned this time.

“ Someone named Venti told me his name. He told me that Dvalin needed to be purified and that I somehow purified a part of him .”

“ So that was what the golden light was .”

“ I think so. Put that doesn’t matter. Dvalin is in pain and we need to save him. I think he’s been corrupted by some time of dark magic .”

Jean pondered for a moment, seeming to piece together a couple things in her mind, but not saying anything.

“ If that is true, we must destroy the source of Dvalin’s power first. If you have any hope to get close to him, without potentially getting killed, we must weaken him a little bit .”

“ That could make Dvalin more manageable. And if we do this right, we can keep Mondstadt safe and save Dvalin, without having to kill him .” 

They managed to smooth over a plan to disable the Temple of the Four winds to weaken Dvalin, but could not figure out how to get Aether close to Dvalin, or draw out Dvalin in the first place.

“ We’ll figure that out in the future, for now, we’ll focus on dismantling the temples .”

Jean bowed to the four of them, “ Thank you for accompanying me to plan these matters. You are all dismissed. Traveler, feel free to wander around Mondstadt for now .”

Paimon got excited over that, yanking the cloth of Amber’s shirt.

“ Amber can now take Paimon out for Sticky Honey Roast! Lets eat before we got into the Temples !”

“ Sounds like a good idea. I need to refill before heading out again .”

Amber and Paimon ran out of the Favonius Headquarters, Kaeya laughing but walking further into the building.

Before he left, he apologized for acting out, Aether forgave him because they would have done the same thing if they thought their sister might be in danger.

Aether wanted to explore Mondstadt, but Lisa pulled them aside.

“ Hey cutie, can I ask you something ?”

“ Sure go ahead ma’am .”

Lisa placed her hands on their shoulders, she didn’t spark anything. But her hands did leave a comforting buzz.

“ When you first entered the room, you radiated so much energy, it felt like the air was buzzing from electricity .”

“ Kaeya mentioned that when I first met him, but I thought it was from the adrenaline behind fighting Dvalin .”

“ Maybe, I don’t know for certain. But, I do sense incredible power buried inside you. I don’t know if you can access it. I feel like you should know it’s there .”

Aether felt a lump in their throat form.

My powers aren’t gone.

“ Thank you Lisa. Is there anything else you’d like to say ?”

Lisa nodded.

“ You carry the aura of the stars. You’re very warm, so very bright. I’ve never felt someone as pure as you .”

Lisa’s eye went soft.

Like Lumine’s.

“ You’re going to experience things in this world that will try to snuff out your light, whether it be hilichurls, Abyss Mages, or others. Don’t let them. Don’t let them snuff out your light. Keep it bright and keep on shining, little star .”

The dam broke and tears fell down Aether’s face and Lisa brought them in for a hug.

“ Keep on shining, my cutie .”

Aether brushed away their tears, signing, “ I won’t. I promise .”

They held out their pinky, and Lisa took it.

“ I promise to not let anyone snuff out my light .”

Lisa smiled at them, before gesturing to the door.

“ Now, you go join Amber and Paimon at Good Hunter. I’m pretty sure you’re hungry .”

They weren’t, but appreciated the sentiment.

I won’t let anyone make me cold. I won’t let anyone snuff out my light. 

I’ll be the hero Lumine and Mondstadt need.

I promised.

And I don’t break my promises, ever.

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Lumine was planning something.

Those Mondstadtains were trying to corrupt her sister, take her away from from her .

She couldn’t have that.

█̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ was hers! She belonged to Lumine! She belongs to me.

Me!

A ND  ON L Y M E !!

“ Is everything prepared ?”

Baskara appeared before her. On one knee, staff in hand.

“ Yes your majesty. The Tsaritsa has received your request to meet her, but has not yet accepted .”

Lumine breathed in heavily, smiling wide.

“ I shall eagerly await her request .”

“ There is no way she will turn down your offer m’lady. She will gain knowledge of Aether’s plans, as well as a potential alliance with the Abyss. With our help, she could take down all the Seven Archons and rule over Teyvat !”

“ Exactly. There’s no way she could deny us . That would be foolish. Who would dare deny the Queen of the Abyss. Who would dare ?!”

Who would dare who would dare who would dare?!

( no one ).

( no one would deny the Queen of the Abyss ).

( accept for one ).

“ When all goes according to plan, I’ll have the whole of Teyvat wrapped around my finger. With the Tsaritsa’s help, we’ll be able to save Teyvat, kill the Cube Goddess, and get my sister back .”

Baskara nodded, smiling up at her.

“ You’ll have everything you’ve ever desired, my Queen .”

Lumine's smile only grew wider at the thought of that.

Everything I ever wanted huh? What a lovely dream come true .

( her sister will return to her ).

( then nothing could oppose her empire ).

█̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ is mine and no one will own her!

No one will own █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ !

Except for me and me alone !

( no one can own █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ ).

( except for Lumine ).

(̶̧̧̡̛̟͖̹̰̟̣̺̰̠̱̬̓̌͗͂̋̔̒̽̀̇̌̈́̿̈́̉̎̑͘͘ ̷̡̛̛͉̣̖͎̭̱͈̝̼̤͆̋̈̂͑͊̍̄̈̓̆̉̍̀̏͜͝͝ Ă̵̡̜̦̮͙̗͖̩̳̯͓̭͇̫͎̙͈̗͔̫̓̽́̾̾̔̓͒̌̂͘ͅͅ ̶̛̘̅́͂̒̀̏̄̉͊

     N̶̗̰̈́̃́͐͊̊̈́̈́ D̴̢̛̝̟͖͈̟͉̗̦̖̝͉͓̫̥̼͚͓̜͑̉͋̽̂̈́͊̇͌͘ ̶̧̡̧̛̤̘̮̞̬͓̭̹̜̲̩͈͕̝͉̲̪͛͂͆̔̽̕͝ 

                     Ŏ̵̵̧̢̡̨̙͕̱̟̼͎̬̗̠̝̥̞̹̞͈͓̱̭͓̫̜͓̞̭͉͍͚͉̹̗̯͍͎͙̳̥̦̆̍́̉̃͌̓̿͋̾̏̎͆̏̉̔̀͋͋̓̄́̂̈́̂̍͒͌̔̍͠͝ N̴̸̨̛̠̣̺̦̰̫̭̦̼̙͉̞̞̬̺͈̥̣͈͇̟̯̪͎͋͂̄̍̇̌͑̓̋͛̈̂͜͝͝ͅ L̴̦̯̖̯̫̝͈̝͈͔͐̿̄̔̏͝  Ŷ̵̧̟̝͚̙̟̹͓̯̳̝̗͕̞̟̠̠̼̬̯͜ ̵̨̹̱͆͐̀͋̽̽͑̏͂͐̉̎̔̍͂͠͠͝ L̴̨̡̛̹̥̘̲̪͎̦̬̞̞̳̜͚̤͔͕̗̃͋̍͋̍͗̓͂́̇̀̒͛͆́̚͝ ̶̨͔̯͖̬̞̪̓͊̆̀̽̿̓͑͌͂̇͌̈́̌͌͘̚͜

          Ų̶̠͇̺̬͇̘̹͗͋̓͐̔̊̊̚̕M̸̨̟͔̘̫̹͍̘͚̳͔̦̝̜̭̄̓̔̓̃͝ͅ    ̶̢̛̤̯͔͕̗̥̫̼͚̪̭̘̝̮͎̥̿̓͗͘̕̕͠I̴̯̦̮̘̳͈̓̍̓ͅͅ ̷̧̡̧̺͕̟̣͑̈͌̉̔͐͂̀̈́̿̅͝͝      N̸̨̡̰̹̬̘̦̙͍̬̺̤͙̻̝̗̟̼̽͐͆̈́͛͊̅̎̈́̒̅̂̽̾̚

     E̴̛͇̲̤͖͍̝̫̹̥̠̠͉̥̜̖͈͎̲͙̲͊͒͂͋̀͊̆̑̓̐̔̆̑̑̈́̚͠ͅ ̴͍̯̥̻̪͖͎͋̈́̑͗̌̋͑̕͝ )̸͎̥͇̻̘̪͚͇̌͒̄͆̒̏̍͐̃͘͜!̷̞́̃́̿͋̀̏

Chapter Text

“ Greetings your majesty, I am Baskara. I have arrived to present an invitation from the Abyss Queen. She wishes to seek an audience with you .”

When the Tsaritsa first received an invitation from an Abyss Mage, of course she was hyper suspicious of it.

Not only was it given to her by an Abyss Mage, he carried a massage from the Queen of the Abyss herself.

Immediately, everyone was on guard when they heard The Queen sent an invitation to the Tsaritsa.

Besides her, the Abyss was the number one enemy to humanity.

“ Do not mistake our invitation as one of malice, your highness. We simply ask to discuss a matter of trading and kinship .”

That peaked her interest.

Abyss Mages wore baggy robes and white masks. Not giving away any potential signs of weakness in body language. Only leaving their voices to tell if they were being deceitful or not.

She waved her hands, the guards lowering their weapons.

She adjusted herself in her throne, looking down upon the Mage in front of her. This one was a Pyro Mage, calling itself  ‘ Baskara .’

“ I thought you Abyss Mages had no names. Why are you different ?”

The Mage bowed before the Goddess, speaking with an almost fond tone.

stay on guard, it could be fake.

“ I understand your confusion, my lady, but I was gifted the name  ‘ Baskara ’  by the Queen herself. I am just below the Queen in the ladder of power. Her advisor, if you should call it something .”

The Tsaritsa smiled, finding the mannerisms of the Mage cute.

so the queen and i are similar in that regard.

“ How interesting. May I ask you something Baskara. Since you represent the word of the Queen ?”

He stood straight, sparks flicking off his staff.

She saw a flicker of light coming from inside his mask, but that was probably just a trick of the eye.

Her palace was lined with ice after all.

“ You may speak freely, your majesty. You need not ask permission, I am no noble but a simple servant to my Queen .”

how polite!

the Queen has a good one. 

she better keep this one or else i might steal him away myself.

“ Should I accept said invitation, what will I get out of it? How will this benefit my country, Baskara? The Abyss is the enemy of humanity after all .”

The fur atop his robes bristled the slightest bit. 

so they can communicate through body language.

interesting...

“ I cannot discuss the matters of our offer to you. This is not the place to talk of terms. However, should you agree to our terms you will not only have information that aids your plan to steal the Gods’ Gnosis, but gain the Abyss as an ally for Snezhnaya .”

Now, that was the final nail in the coffin.

The invitation could be a trap, but she was more than willing to take the risk if it meant gaining the Abyss as an ally.

The whole of Teyvat would tremble beneath the combined power of Snezhnaya and the Abyss.

Was it worth it though?

To potentially loose her own Gnosis and life to gain what might be empty words and lies.

The Tsaritsa laughed at her own doubts, casting expressions of fear among the guards of her throne room.

She was more than capable of defending herself, and what did she have to lose? Her people were forever loyal to her just by being alive. 

She showed them enough mercy to keep their life, and in return she had their undying loyalty. They would follow her every command and would trust her blindly.

Her people were fools, but they were her fools and she’d do what was best for them.

( what she thinks is best for them ).

( actions speak louder than words ).

“ Very well. Baskara, tell your Queen I will think about it. You will have your answer in three days .”

Baskara bowed before the Tsaritsa.

“ Thank you for your time, Tsaritsa. I shall come back in three days time to receive your answer .”

And with that, the Mage disappeared in a burst of flames, leaving the faint smell of burnt leaves and water in the throne room.

She leaned back in her chair, satisfied with how everything went.

She leaned her hands off her throne, coming into contact with a head of hair.

ah, i had forgotten about you.

She combed her fingers through soft hair, long nails scratching at the scalp. Like you would a beloved pet.

The head under her hand was shaking, but not from the cold. All her subject had thick skin and could go swimming in the ice, coming out completely unscathed.

That only left one option, and it was something she hadn’t acquainted herself with in a long time.

Her favourite attackdog Harbinger was showing fear .

how naive.

i thought you better than that .

She grabbed a fist full of coral hair and pulled, feeling him tense beneath her hand.

A small whimper came from the person to the side of her throne.

“ Oh Childe, I thought I taught you to not show fear when in the presence of guests .”

She heard him let out a breathy sigh.

“ I’m sorry Mother. It was a mistake on my part .”

She went back to stroking his hair, pleased with his response. He relaxed, leaning into her hand.

what an obedient attack dog i’ve trained.

so loyal.

so foolish, but he is my fool.

( but he is still so soft ).

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Tartaglia does not fear Abyss Mages. He does not fear Hilichurls, Ruin Guards, or even Ruin Hunters. And those things are a bitch to fight.

He does not fear monsters. There is very little in the world he does fear.

( he fears exactly two things ).

( the tsaritsa being one of them ).

What he does fear, it the Abyss Queen.

When he fell into that hell, he remembers the animals and the residents all shook in fear whenever the Queen’s name was spoken.

Usually when the Queen’s name was spoken aloud, monsters followed shortly after. Like a kind of curse.

During his time in the Abyss, he learned what it truly meant to fight. It was either the monsters’ lives or his own.

Most of his days down there were nothing but cold, green fire, a sky doomed in eternal dusk, and the fear of being slaughtered. Either by the people who were just as desperate to survive, or by the monsters seeking to eat them alive.

( he faintly remembers a boy with lilac stars for eyes and navy blue hair ).

( he also remembers how said boy was missing his right eye ).

Tartaglia does not fear monsters. He does not fear Abyss Mages, Hilichurls, or even Ruin Hunters.

He does not fear the Pyro Mage in front of him., in fact, he was slowly summoning his hydro blades, preparing to cut the creature down and spill its blood across the palace floor.

But, when it said it was sent by the Queen herself for a potential kinship between it and Snezhnaya, all the fight left him. Leaving the feeling of emptiness and hollow.

not here.

you weren’t supposed to follow me home.

What topped the, already gross, feeling of being left without a will to fight, was the Tsaritsa, his majesty , was thinking about agreeing to be allies.

( he had never felt so scared in his life ).

( they were going to live in his home ).

( near his family ).

He didn’t realize he was shaking until the Tsaritsa was back to stroking his hair, only to yank it until his eyes met with her’s, just over the armrest of her throne.

“ Oh Childe, I thought I taught you to not show fear when in the presence of guests .”

He messed up. She never called him Childe unless she was pissed.

His title,  ‘ Childe ’, felt like a mockery now that she was going to agree with whatever the Queen’s terms were.

Before this moment, we would have laughed at such a silly title, but now it felt demeaning.

He was nothing but a Childe, and the Tsaritsa new this when bestowing it upon him. He was the youngest Harbinger and it showed.

Her fingers, which normally would feel warm, now felt cold against his scalp.

Whatever warmth he might have felt before this moment, now felt so fake. It felt meaningless.

Swearing his loyalty to the Tsaritsa now felt so meaningless, now that she might destroy Snezhnaya. Now that she might slaughter her own people.

And for what? The Gnosi? What did she even need those for? Why did she need them as badly as she did?

( those plans were reserved for only the people closest to her majesty ).

( childe was not one of those people ).

( he was just an attack dog after all ).

“ I’m sorry Mother. It was a mistake on my part .”

She released him, pleased with his display of submission. Going back to combing her fingers through his hair. 

likeadog

Chapter Text

When taking down the different Four Winds Temples, everyone wanted to supervise Aether and see how they fight.

A good idea in theory, but a bad idea in practice. They couldn’t wait for Aether to reach every single one of them.

Aether had already gotten some type of alone time with Lisa and Amber, so they opted to go with Kaeya.

Kaeya did scare them the most, but that was because he probably didn’t deem Aether trustworthy enough to give information to.

Aether didn’t mind this, they understood why Kaeya did not trust them. But they did want to be friends with the pretty stranger.

Aether wanted to be friends with everyone, they wanted to be close to these people.

( it would probably end up hurting them all in the end ).

( if they found their sister, they would have to leave Tayvat ).

( but they have no clue when they would see her again ).

Kaeya was the most suspicious of them. Aether understood this.

Maybe they were coming off a little too eager to be his friend, but Kaeya didn’t tell them otherwise.

Amber went off with a knight maiden named  ‘ Noelle ’, to take care of the Temple of the Falcon, while Lisa and Jean went to take care of the Temple of the Lion.

The ride with Kaeya was awkward and filled with tension, Aether attempted to make conversation with him about something. But it was really hard to sign anything when you were clutching onto someone for dear life.

“ Dear traveler, have you never ridden a horse before ?”

Aether shook their head against the fur adorning Kaeya’s cape.

They signed into chest, “ I’ve never ridden a horse before! Never had a reason t--”

The horse jumped over a rock and stopped Aether from signing a full sentence. They almost ripped a piece of fabric from Kaeya’s shirt from how tight they were grabbing at it.

“ Seriously? Never? How on earth did you get around Teyvat then ?”

Aether scanned the area for any possible bumps in the road, there were none.

Uhhh, “ I walked ?”

Kaeya stopped his horse and laughed at Aether’s response.

“ You and your sister, walked across the whole of Teyvat ?”

“ Don’t laugh at me. Walking is great, you can find so many nooks and crannies in the layout of the land .”

Kaeya pat the hands around his chest, signalling it was okay to let go.

“ I will admit, there is some truth to that statement .”

Aether climbed of the horse, the at the first opportunity. As soon as she stopped, they launched themself off the saddle.

riding a horse is so much more different than flying.

“ Here we are, The Temple of the Wolf .”

Kaeya gestured to a structure carved into the side of a small mountain.

“ We need to clear out whatever monsters are inside of the temple, for the four winds .”

Aether nodded and the duo stepped inside the Temple, and it was cold. Not just from Kaeya, but the Temple itself was freezing.

“ It’s from the lack of offerings and people stepping inside. No one’s goes inside here anymore and because of that, the Temple has gotten cold .”

Aether looked over at Kaeya, confusion painted on their face.

Kaeya chuckled, “ Your thoughts are very loud, dear traveler .”

Aether laughed at that.

“ No need to be so formal Kaeya, just call me Aether .”

He pointed to a structure above the rest, incredibly high up from the others.

“ That’s where the Temple is located. We need to go there and break it .”

Aether nodded, not questioning how Kaeya knew, but Paimon did instead.

“ How do you know the Temple is up there, Sir Kaeya ?”

Kaeya was climbing over the railing, preparing to slash at the hilichurls below, “ When you’ve been doing these kinds of things for years, you tend to pick up on some things .”

Aether and Kaeya proceeded to slaughter all of the monsters inside the temple. Aether got blood on their clothes, but luckily only on the darker parts. Getting blood one the lighter parts would have been a nightmare to get out of.

Aether spent the majority of the time flanking Kaeya and making sure none of the monsters touched him. And, when Kaeya wasn’t looking, there were a few monsters that almost got the jump on him, but Aether would dash across the room and blow them away with the power of Anemo.

Kaeya was a skilled knight, they knew this for sure, or else he wouldn’t have gotten the title of Cavalry Captain. Aether might have been over thinking a couple things because they were still thinking of the time the Cube Goddess got the jump on them and stole their sister away.

kaeya isn’t you.

don’t project.

that’s not what friends do.

( they wouldn’t know the first thing about having friends ).

“ Say Aether, you are able to use Anemo, yet don’t possess a Vision. Why is that ?”

Aether really didn’t feel like answering that question. Especially when they found a chest tucked away behind a couple crates and were now digging through it’s contents.

a pocketwatch, a feather, and a weird flower.

neato!

Paimon took the role of answering for them, “ It was a very strange occurrence. . .”

The rest of the Temple went by pretty quickly. Aether and Kaeya destroyed the rock that powered Dvalin’s power and cleared the temple out of any and all monsters.

“ You’re abilities are of a true Knight. What you did were no easy feats !”

“ It was nothing Kaeya. I’m just happy to help out !”

“ You have the Knights virtue of modesty. I like that .”

Kaeya pat them on the back.

“ The others might have finished up their parts with these temples. We’d better start heading back now .”

Aether nodded, grabbing Kaeya’s hand to guide them out of the temple.

“ Actually Aether, I’m going to stay a little longer. I need to wrap up a couple more things before leaving. I’ll catch up with you in a bit .”

He pulled away from Aether’s hand and leaned backwards.

Aether cocked their head, trying to convey their confusion.

They trusted Kaeya to take care of himself, but they were weary.

Kaeya chuckled.

“ I’ll be fine dear traveler, I am the Cavalry Captain for a reason after all .”

Kaeya waved goodbye at Aether, and they started towards the entrance. 

Aether felt something was up, but tried not to think about it. Something smelled bad, but they thought it was just the hilichurls. Hilichurl camps tend to smell like rotting meat and burnt water.

( it wasn’t until much later they realized it was the smell of burnt fabric and metal ).

( kaeya controls cryo, not pyro )

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Diluc was having one of his better days, but that notion went flying out the window as soon as he saw Kaeya.

He didn’t hate his brother, persay, but he was on thin fucking ice. Pun not intended.

His brother was reckless in battle and pulled stupid ass stunts that could potentionaly hurt others.

His means in battle were controversial throughout the Knights, Diluc couldn’t care, but it was interesting to witness.

Regardless of his personal feelings, seeing him in the temple was an unpleasant surprise,but that was only one of two.

The second one was spotting a young looking boy ( ? ) near the entrance. They had long, blonde hair braided.

After beating the Abyss Mage into the ground with his claymore, he turned to taunt Kaeya.

“ I knew the Knights were inefficient, but getting help from a kid is a new type of pathetic .”

“ I’m going to assume you mean Aether ?”

aether?

“ Is that the kid’s name? Who names their kid Aether ?”

“ When you meet them, you can ask them yourself. Although, I’m not sure if Aether qualifies as a kid or not. Normally kids don’t fight with such terrifying skill or fluidity while on the battle field .”

To call someone’s fighting style terrifying, especially for Kaeya, was a comment that coloured Diluc surprised. 

Kaeya didn’t give praise out very often, so on the rare occasions he did, Diluc listened in carefully.

Wait.

not sure if they qualify as a kid or not?

“ How can you be unsure if Aether qualifies as a kid or not? They look to be same age as your Maiden Knight no? Or perhaps that Outrider ?”

Kaeya laughed. 

At him.

Diluc had absolutely no idea how to react to Kaeya laughing at him.

His first impulse was to recoil in disgust, his second was to hit Kaeya, the third was to wait and have Kaeya explain.

He chose to pick the third option and be civil for once.

Kaeya whipped away the small tears building up in his eyes and smooth his fur out.

“ You should have seen the time Aether reacted to Lisa’s Vision. Now that was a show and a half. Actually if you visit Jean’s office, you could probably still see the hole they left in the wall .”

what the actual?

reaction to a vision? a hole in the wall?

“ Yes Diluc, there is a hole in Jean’s office. Yes, is was caused by Aether. No, it probably hasn’t ben fixed yet .”

Confusion was probably written all over his face if Kaeya was able to figure all that out just by looking at him.

Diluc sheathed his sword and shifted his stance to the other foot, turning to leave the temple.

“ I can’t tell if you’re over exaggerating about this kid, or if you’re being honest for once .”

Kaeya chuckled as Diluc turned his back to him.

“ I have a feeling that you’ll be finding out for yourself soon .”

“ I highly doubt I’ll meet this, so called, Aether anytime soon asshole. I’m busy .”

“ I doubt it, but feel free to gloat about it when we see each other again !”

i won’t be seeing you in the future. 

i can guarantee that.

i’ll find out if this ‘ aether ’, figure exists or is just a figment of kaeya’s imagination.

( diluc would find out that kaeya’s claims were not over exaggerated or false ).

( he would see the power aether held ).

( how it would be used and how brightly they shone ).

( he would soon learn that aether was very real, and feel their warmth himself ).

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Everything was coming together.

In exactly two days, Lumine would be meeting with the Tsaritsa and they would become allies.

They would form the most powerful political alliance Teyvat has ever seen.

The gods will all be dead, the Gnosi all stolen, the world saved, and her sister by her side.

Everything was falling into place and Lumine could not be anymore happy.

“ Just a couple more days Lumi. Just a couple more days, and everything will be yours .”

She didn’t plan on double crossing the Tsaritsa, why would she do that?

There was no point. Not a single one.

The Tsaritsa would get her what she wanted the most and in return, she would help the Tsaritsa achieve her goal.

They’d be working hard and faster to reach their own respective goals, and both would be happy.

After that, they’d be on their marry ways.

“ A couple more days and everything will be mine .”

She danced around her throne room, huge grin on her face.

Her humming echoed through the throne room, as she twirled around on her toes. Dancing in a mock waltz.

                             “ She may contain the urge to run away,

but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks. . .”

Chapter Text

When the Tsaritsa stepped into the Abyss portal, she was overwhelmed with the sensation of cold.

The cold of the Abyss was unlike anything she had ever felt before. 

Even in Snezhnaya, there was some type of warmth. Usually from the people, or the fireplaces inside their homes. Or from the love they gave off for their families, or for their country, or to the goddess herself.

But in the Abyss, not even the pathetic green torches gave off warmth. 

In the Abyss, there was nothing.

The sky was dark and the ground was covered in ashes. Monsters lurked in every corner and the people were worse.

Whereas the monsters killed without mercy, the people killed anyone who dared step into their vicinity.

There was no love in the Abyss. No room for any.

The residents might have once felt what it was like to love at on point, but any memory of love has long since faded away.

( one human resident tried to steal from her ).

( she slit their throat without hesitation ).

She expected the palace of the Abyss to be warmer than the rest of the land, being as the nobles had more luxuries than the poor and needy.

But the palace was the definition of devoid of warmth.

The palace was a black hole of warmth and love. It sucked it in and crushed it, stretching it thinner and thinner until it was nothing but measly ribbons in the wind. Too small for anyone to use, but not big enough to completely disappear.

She expected the Queen to be a horror of all horrors, commanding the armies of monsters, cruel and mighty.

To say she was surprised would be an understatement.

What the Tsaritsa saw before her, was a petite woman. Golden hair and golden eyes. A white ensemble, highlighted with blue, feathers adoring her ears and cape. A white flower, pinned to the side of her head.

She didn’t even come to Tsaritsa’s shoulders, the Queen was so small .

But, by no means, was she weak. 

The Queen carried a frigid air, the source to the deadly pulling sensation from outside the palace. She was so much more crueler and terrifying than the Tsaritsa could have imagined.

Her eyes were devoid of any and all emotion, and abyss sucking all hope in and crushing it into fine dust. All of it hiding behind a small, polite smile.

oh, we’re going to get along swimmingly.

we might be more similar than i thought.

“ Welcome to the Abyss, dear Tsaritsa. I hope you find your stay most pleasant. Well as pleasant as you can in this place .”

The Queen strided to a table of two chairs, overlooking the entirety of her kingdom. On the table, there were drinks and foods. 

They looked delicious, but the Tsaritsa couldn’t take any chances.

“ None, of it is poisoned if that’s what you’re wondering. I would be a poor, poor host if I let my most esteemed guest get sick in my presence .”

The Tsaritsa sat across from the Queen, sipping from the steaming cup.

( the tsaritsa really like the queen ).

( that’s exactly what she would do to potential threats ).

“ Flattery will get you no where, dear Queen .”

“ Oh, I know that, your majesty, but I was looking froward to your arrival for a long time. You excite me, as I think we are more similar in person than one might think .”

The Tsaritsa too another sip from the hot, red beverage, smiling as it went down.

oh, i definitely like you.

“ Dear Queen, as kind as your words may be, we are here to discuss a political allyship between Snezhnaya and the Abyss .”

The Queen chuckled, “ Of course, straight to business. I like that in a woman .”

( flattery, will get you no where in snezhnaya ).

( but, this isn’t snezhnaya ).

( maybe there is an exception to the rules after all ) .

“ My dear Queen, as much as I enjoy your admiration, I want to know how the Abyss could help my country. Will my people be without monsters? Or will the Abyss be a potential threat ?”

She set the cup down, wiping away the residue from her face.

“ I want to know what your terms are, and if we could come to an agreement. We could benefit from each other. So what can the Abyss offer me ?”

The Queen pushed aside her cup and cakes, holding the napkin in her lap into a perfect triangle.

“ Need not worry about my terms dear Taritsa, for they are simple as can be .”

The Queen gestured for a Pyro Mage, Baskara, to come to the table, he provided The Queen and piece of parchment paper wrapped in a ribbon.

“ You are excused Baskara .”

He bowed, “ Thank you my Queen ,” and then left the balcony. Disappearing into the throne room.

The Queen unrolled the parchment to reveal a hyper-realistic drawing of a person, with near identical features to the Queen. They had the same gold hair and eyes, the same face, with the Queen having slightly more sharper features.

The person had far longer hair than the Queen, woven into a long braid, tied off with the same white feathers the Queen wore as earrings. The wore a dark chestplate, with traveler’s trousers and boots. A scarf clipped into a cape.

There were parts where the person in the sketch had shining in parts to where the Queen’s were. The difference being, the traveler’s were blue and the Queen’s were black.

“ They look just like you. Might I presume this is your descendant? A family member perhaps ?”

The Queen’s eye twitched but her smile did not falter.

“ You are correct. This is my twin sister . Her name is █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ, but lately, she’s been hiding under the name ‘ Aether ‘ .

 She has been wandering throughout Teyvat in search of me, but has slain many of my kingdom and is a threat to you. If she finds all Archons, she will be powerful enough to stop you .”

The Queen stabbed the top of the parchment with her knife, accidentally spilling some of red liquid onto the paper. It stained the top of the paper, but did not effect the drawing itself.

( their was something off about the way the queen said aether’s first name ).

( it didn’t feel right ).

“ She could stop you from getting all the Archons’ Gnosi and could destroy the Abyss if she is given enough time .”

“ If your sibling is so dangerous, why haven’t you done anything to retrieve them yourself ?”

The Queen laughed at the Tsaritsa’s comment.

“ I understand why you might think that, but all my servants are monsters. They’re incapable of thought or any complicated processes. Not only that, but they’re able to purify any and all types of corruptions my blood could inflict upon Teyvat. I sent one of my lackeys to retrieve her, and she purified them .”

“ Ah, so you have tried to retrieve your sibling .”

The Queen pulled her knife off the picture, sliding it to the Tsaritsa.

“ I need your help to get them .”

The Tsaritsa pondered over the Queen’s words. She has been trying to retrieve her sibling, but her attempts have showed up futile.

All the Queen was asking for, was the Tsaritsa to retrieve her sibling and return them to her. 

If she retrieves the Queen’s sibling, she’ll have the whole Abyss on her side and be a personal ally to the Queen.

this is perfect.

“ Where are they located ?”

The Queen smiled.

( the queen’s lips were red ).

( but her cup was full ).

“ My sister is located in Mondstadt currently. You can kill two birds with one stone, retrieve my sister and reclaim the Anemo Archon’s Gnosis.

When you succeed, which I know you will, you will have the Abyss as a permanent ally until you achieve your goal with the Gnosi. After that, I only ask for supplies to provide for my subjects .”

The Tsaritsa smiled. Fully smiled.

oh, i definitely like you.

She finished off her drink and the small cake, the utensils clinking against the plate.

“ I believe we have ourselves a deal, dearest Queen .”

The Queen brushed her fingers against the Tsaritsa’s, they were cold.

( the tsaritsa would never admit, but she liked the feeling of the queen’s hand against her’s ).

“ I believe we do, but there is no need for formalities between us my dearest. Please, call me Lumine .”

The Tsaritsa chuckled at her name.

lumine, how lovely.

yet so ironic.

“ Is something the matter ?”

“ Nothing is wrong. I just find it ironic how your name means light, yet you rule over the Abyss .”

“ That is indeed ironic my dearest .”

Lumine arose from her seat and laced her hands with the Tsaritsa’s.

“ I shall escort you out the Abyss. I would be a poor host and partner to let my most esteemed guest leave without me .”

The Tsaritsa laughed and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet by the petite woman.

“ A poor host indeed .”

The walk away from the palace, somehow, felt warmer than the walk to.

Maybe before it was because she didn’t know the Queen beforehand.

The Tsaritsa glanced at their interlaced hands and felt her face warm ever so slightly.

perhaps there is warmth in the abyss afterall .

The duo approached the swirling portal and broke away from each other.

“ I look forward to seeing you again, my dearest .”

“ Likewise, my queen .”

Before the Tsaritsa stepped through the portal, she turned to look at Lumine one last time.

i just have to ask. . .

“ Lumine, why are you searching so hard for your sibling? What is driving you to go to such lengths ?”

The dark look in Lumine’s eyes returned, almost making the Tsaritsa flinch.

( she never expected those eyes to be turned to her ).

( they were so, so dark ).

( so empty ).

“ I do what I do out of love of course. I love my sibling and I miss her dearly .”

Lumine kissed the Tsaritsa’s knuckles.

“ Have a safe journey back, my dearest .”

The Tsaritsa waved her partner goodbye and stepped through the portal.

Lumine’s reply to the Tsaritsa’s question had shaken her deeply, she couldn’t place her finger on it. But something about Lumine disturbed her deeply.

( it wouldn’t be until much, much later would she realize ).

( the tsaritsa was the goddess of love, any and all ).

( and lumine had, absolutely, no love for her sibling ).

( none at all ).

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Judging by the smile on his majesty’s face, Tartaglia could only assume they had made a deal with the Queen and it went well.

“ Signora, set a course for the palace home. I have news I want to tell all my Harbingers .”

Signora smiled at the Tsaritsa.

“ I can assume all went well ?”

The Tsaritsa’s face lit up, turning a slight shade of red.

“ Oh, it went far better than any of us could have expected. La Signora, come with me .”

The two women went into a secluded area, without Tartaglia’s presence.

He wanted to know what happened with the Queen.

He needed to know.

i can’t afford to get caught this time.

if i’m caught, i’ll be paying the consequences for it later.

i can’t get caught .

Targalia checked the surrounding area. No one was around, or looking his way.

No one would see him. 

He was in the clear.

Tartaglia trailed far behind the two women, checking thousands of times to make sure there was nothing that could give his location away.

He ended up above them, far enough to not be seen, but not too far as to not hear the conversation.

“ How did it go, your majesty .”

“ Oh Signora, didn’t you know the Abyss Queen is so small? She barely goes to my shoulders. She’s so unlike anything you could have imagined .”

“ You speak highly of her, might I assume everything went well ?”

There was a small pause before the Tsaritsa began again.

“ Everything went more than well. We have armies at our disposal now. We have the dark magic of the Abyss to go hand in hand with our Visions, and out Delusions. Don’t you see Signora? We are now the most powerful country in Teyvat !”

no . . .

it can’t be.

Tartaglia clapped a hand over his mouth, stifling the feeling of wanting to cry.

how could you?

“ This is amazing dearest Tsaritsa. With the Abyss on out side, our goal has become far more closer. It is within our reach. Tell me, what agreement did you come to? It wasn’t anything too costly, was it ?”

The Tsaritsa laughed, whole heartedly.

“ No no. Quite the opposite. All the Queen asks of us, is to retrieve her sibling .”

He heard the Tsaritsa unfold some kind of paper.

Tartaglia’s curiosity consumed him, so he peeked over.

The paper had a drawing on it. They had blonde hair, braided and tied,  and amber eyes. Wearing dark clothing and a white cape.

“ This is her sibling, their name is Aether. They’re currently hiding in Mondstadt, presumably alongside the Anemo Archon .”

Tartaglia went back into hiding. Trying to commit the person’s face to memory.

their name is aether, they’re in mondstadt.

i’ll never get there in time.

“ How convenient. This is truly too easy. Are you positive this is best for Snezhnaya? For all we know, the Queen could betray us .”

“ Oh, I know for a fact we won’t be double crossed, Signora .”

There was a long paused, before Signora laughed.

“ Dearest Tsaritsa, are you infatuated with the Abyss Queen ?”

Tartaglia’s heart stopped.

there’s no way.

this can’t be real.

this has to be some kind of nightmare.

“ What you say is true Signora. I am attracted to the Abyss Queen. We might become an item in the future, but only time will tell .”

“ Congratulations Tsaritsa. I hope you two are happy .”

The Tsaritsa chuckled. Even someone as stupid as Tartaglia could tell the Tsaritsa was fond of the Queen.

there coming home.

the abyss is coming to snezhnaya.

they’re coming for my family.

“ As touching as that is Signora, we still have to fulfill our end of the bargain. I want you to go to Mondstadt and retrieve Barbatos’s Gnosis, but you are also incharge of retrieving Aether as well.

According to the Queen, they are quite weak right now. But if left to fester, they could become a hindrance in our plans .”

“ I understand .”

Tartaglia heard the footsteps of Signora’s begin and then stop.

“ Signora, the Queen also requested Aether to be delivered to her alive. If they are in anyway disobedient, or troublesome, feel free to reprimand them accordingly. The Queen said Aether isn’t one to obey the rules .”

Tartaglia could feel Signora’s smile from where he was hiding. 

Whenever Signora was given a new toy to play with, she always enjoyed playing with it.

He felt so bad for Aether.

He hoped their will was strong enough to withstand Signora’s wrath.

( he secretly wished aether’ll bend over quickly ).

( the quicker they submitted to Signora’s hand, the less they’d get hurt in the end ).

( he was so, so sorry for aether ).

( the abyss queen was far, far mor terrifying than he could’ve imagined ).

Tartaglia buried his face into the palms of his hands. He cried, keeping silent as to not alert the two women as to where he was.

the abyss is going to follow me home.

and the queen would allow her own blood to be tortured for the sake of obedience.

Tartaglia wiped away his tears, curling into himself, trying to make himself smaller.

the abyss is full of monsters. . .

and the queen is the worst one of them all. . .

Chapter Text

After the problem with the temple, Aether was relieved of their duties and given a few days to rest up and a proper tour around Mondstadt.

The city was indeed, gorgeous. Even though it was alive with people’s laughter and warm, the city was rustic and clearly older than most of the residents. 

With Dvalin scared off for the moment, everyone’s movements felt strained and tampered with.

Even though that was the case, Aether enjoyed the energy of Mondstadt. Everyone seemed happy and content with themselves.

After the tour, Amber had to go and finish other Outrider duties and Kaeya had to do, whatever Kaeya had to do.

Kaeya was a strange one, but Aether thought they had made excellent progress to becoming his friend.

Lisa reminded Aether of what a mother felt like. Kind, yet a little weird.

Jean, even though she was the Dandelion Knight, she was so, so warm. Warm and gentle as the sun.

Aether was lying down in the grass, just outside of Mondstadt. Then they suddenly remembered something. 

“ Paimon, I should tell Jean about the crystal we got off of Dvalin .”

“ Oh yeah, you should show Jean the tear! That’s a good idea !”

Aether didn’t want to get up, but they needed to now, or else they wouldn’t get around to doing it ever.

They closed their eyes and took in a little more sun and warmth.

The grass was starting to get itchy, a dandelion seed flew into their mouth, and a leaf hit them in the face. Even the world was telling them to get up and going.

They stretched and yawned, Paimon gently pushing them into the city.

“ Hurry up, we haven’t got all day !!”

Aether leaned back into Paimon, not aiming to hurt her, but simply teasing her. They snorted to get Paimon’s attention before signing again.

“ Paimon, gravity is increasing on me .”

“ Aether we don’t have all day. We need to talk to Jean !”

Aether let off Paimon and headed towards Jean.

They wandered towards the Favonius headquarters and found Jean talking to a woman in purple and black, with a mask. She was slightly shorter than Jean, with her brown hair in a high ponytail.

The two women were discussing about something. Jean’s expression constantly switched between looking distressed, annoyed, or flat out angry.

( aether never wanted to be on the end of those eyes ).

Jean snarked at the woman in black and she just, laughed. And it wasn’t the kind of laugh you give when you find something funny.

It was one of those condescending laughs. Loud and sarcastic, assumed by your negativity.

Aether grabbed Paimon and held her close. She gripped the fabric of his gloves.

“ Paimon, I get bad vibes from the brunette .”

The pixie nodded, huddling into Aether. They looked around the corner of the Favonius building, the lady in black and purple scoffed at Jean, and then left.

Jean sighed and shook her head, her eyes turning toward Aether.

shit .

Aether’s expression must’ve been painted all over their face, because Jean chuckled at them and gestured for them to come closer.

Aether and Paimon looked at each other. Thinking that maybe Jean would get pissed at them for semi-eavesdropping on their conversation. They didn’t pick up any of their words, but they got the gist of the attitude.

They lifted one of their hands to sign and explain themself, but she ushered it away.\

“ Aether I’m not mad at you for eavesdropping. Just slightly disappointed that you didn’t bother to enlighten me you were coming .”

“ Oh my god, that’s so much worse! Having my mom be disappointed in me is so, so much worse than being mad !”

Aether realized they accidentally called Jean mom and their entire upper body flushed with embarrassment.

Jean looked stunned at first, then laughed at Aether. To which they laughed along with her.

Jean rubbed their shoulder and ruffled Paimon’s hair.

“ I’m flattered that you see me as a maternal figure dearest Traveler. I have no clue why you do, but it’s cute.

If you consider me as a maternal figure, then you’ll be happy to know you have two moms now. Lisa has already started to dote on you .”

Aether beamed when Jean said they would have two moms.

“ That’s way better than what my sister and I had before !”

They turned to Paimon and signed excitedly, “ Paimon, we have two moms !”

Paimon squeaked in excitement, “ Two moms !”

Jean flushed red and ruffled their beansprout hair, flattered by their excitement. 

She found it both endearing, and sad, how Aether leaned and pushed their head into her hand. 

how long have you been alone to consider me the best mother?

how long have you been deprives of positive affirmation to react like that?

( she chuckled as the beansprout miraculously went back into its original position ).

( aether’s beansprout defied any and all laws of gravity ).

( you cannot stop the power of the ahoge ).

“ Now, is there something you needed to tell me? Or did you actually come here to eavesdrop on my conversations with the Fatui .”

Jean mumbled something under her breath. Something about the Fatui and Dvalin, and someone called the Tsaritsa.

Aether nodded and tugged at Jean’s clothing, her armour clinking.

“ I need to show you something. I need to share something with you .”

“ Can you not share it with me out in the open ?”

Aether looked Jean straight in the eyes, a rarity, telling her they were 100% serious about whatever they were going to say.

“ That woman you were talking to was a Fatui, right ?”

“ Yes, your assumption is correct .”

“ The Fatui are, enemy of Mond ?”

“ Also correct .”

Aether shook their head again, tugging harder at Jean’s clothing.

“ I can’t speak of it out here then. They might know sign .”

“ Understood. Shall we discuss of this in my office ?”

Aether nodded, beansprout flapping along, looking like it was barely hanging on.

“ Can you bring Miss Lisa as well? She might know more about this than I do .”

“ Of course dear Traveler .”

They took a pit stop in the library and stole Lisa away from her work. Not that she working that much to begin with. 

She was leaning over her desk, writing something down. But upon further examination, she was actually drawing and doodling on one of the scrap pieces of paper she pulled from the returned books.

Aether tapped at Lisa’s lantern to get her attention. The lantern sounded like one of those plastic bells they could by for 10 mora.

how does the lantern not fall off?

how heavy is lisa’s hat for it to not fall off?

“ What is it ?” She said without peeling her eyes off 

Aether tapped their fingers against her desk, hoping that will get her attention instead.

“ Lisa, my love, Aether and I need you attention .”

That got Lisa to look up.

Aether was giving her a squished facial expression. Clearly displeased, or annoyed, with Lisa. Jean glanced at Aether’s face and stifled her laugh with a cough, trying to keep quiet while in the library.

Lisa’s eyes shifted between the two, before smiling at them.

“ Apologizes Aether. I did not know it was you trying to grab my attention .”

Aether’s slight flush died down and they tugged at her gloves.

“ Mom, we need you .”

Aether, at first, did not realize they made the mistake of calling Lisa mom. But once they did, they flushed all the way down to their shoulders. Then quickly fled the library.

“ You gotta stop calling them that .”

Paimon suddenly appeared before Aether, almost hitting the plant near the door of Jean’s office.

Aether flushed down to their shoulders, past their crop top. They folded over themself, giving Paimon a look of sheer embarrassment.

Paimon kinda regrets teasing them, but my god was it funny when Aether called Jean and Lisa their moms.

“ I’m not doing this on purpose !”

“ Paimon knows you’re not doing it on purpose. But because Paimon knows it happens accidentally, what does that say about you ?”

Aether’s flush receded somewhat, leaving only their face a cherry red.

Aether lifted their fingers, going to chide Paimon about her words, but then stopped in midair. 

They instead placed their hand over their mouth and pondered. Paimon crossed her arms, grinning victoriously at Aether as they signed.

“ Do you think my sister would like Lisa and Jean enough to be her moms too ?”

Paimon nodded, holding one of Aether’s hands with her own.

“ Paimon thinks Aether’s sister will adore having two moms !”

Aether clapped and hugged Paimon right as the two women entered the office.

Jean and Lisa entered the office. Lisa’s eyes drifted to the hole in the wall that wasn’t yet fixed. Chuckling at the thin sheet that was tacked to cover it.

Dust and extremely small pieces of debris were left, not enough to become a problem, but enough that it would bother an extreme clean freak.

Which Jean was not.

“ Hey there cutie .”

“ Hello again Lisa. Sorry about accidentally calling you mom .”

“ It’s fine Aether. Jean was telling me about how you accidentally called her mom as well. I’m honoured that you think of me as a maternal figure .”

“ That was not on purpose .”

“ Oh I’m well aware. If you running off, blushing head to toe didn’t tell me otherwise .”

Aether cringed and held their shoulders, tugging at the fabric ever so slightly.

“ Yeah. I tend to flush pretty deeply. It’s something my sister and I shared throughout our lives. She was always better at hiding it than I am .”

“ Don’t worry about it cutie ,” She ruffled the top of their head, “ I find it endearing. Now, was their a reason why you needed me specifically ?”

Aether nodded and pulled their satchel out of Paimon’s pocket of stardust. They grabbed the crystal from out of their satchel and presented it to their moms the two women.

It still glowed a sickly red, but the outer edges faded into a lighter pink colour. The crystal was lightly chipped at the top, a few scratches here and there.

The crystal sparked, small fixtures of lightning coming out of it.

The uncomfortable buzz in their hands returned, feeling more like their hands were asleep than the crawling of fire ants.

“ It’s a crystal ?”

“ I don’t know what it is either. It came from Dvalin after the first encounter I had with him .”

“ Interesting, Lisa can you understand what this is ?”

Lisa stared at the red teardrop, scanning it over with her eyes.

“ The crystal is corrupted by the looks of it, although it has been slightly purified from the outside. I can’t give a proper report without researching first .”

“ That’s alright Lisa. Aether with your permission, may Lisa take your crystal into the library ?”

Aether nodded, passing over the jewel to Lisa.

Her fingers skimmed the crystal, she recoiled her hand as her own Vision started to sparkle brighter yet again.

Distressed by hurting his friend, Aether pulled the crystal close to their chest and cupped it. Shielding Lisa and Jean from the energy radiating from the crystal.

It sparked and fizzed, lashing out towards the two Vision users in the room, but was blocked by Aether’s hand.

“ Ouch !”

“ Lisa are you alright ?”  Aether frantically signed.

She nodded, shaking off the pain from the hand that touched the crystal. 

Her Vision’s glow started to die out, as well as Jean’s 

Lisa stared at the crystals, blocked by Aether’s hands. They realized she was staring at it and quickly placed the crystal inside their satchel. Wrapping it around their shoulders instead of placing it back inside Paimon’s stardust.

( they had a feeling they would need it later ).

( something was coming ).

( they could feel it ).

“ The impurities of the crystal and our elemental powers seem to repel each other. Coming into contact with the crystal appears to have burned me slightly .”

Lisa tugged off her gloves, revealing her finger tips to be red and agitated.

“ Not to worries cutie, as long as the crystal remains with you, we should be fine. I have a suspicion as to why you are not affected by the crystal’s power, but I won’t tell. I promise .”

Lisa tried her best to soothe Aether’s worries. When she showed her fingertips, they had one of the most distressed looks on their face.

They looked so much like a kicked puppy, it hurt to look.

Jean spoke up, also noticing how Aether was unaffected by the crystal’s power.

“ Aether, it would be best if you kept the crystal on your person. Please accept the title of Honorary Knight, as a token of my appreciation .”

Aether shook their head, braid flopping around.

“ I appreciate the offering, I really do, but I can’t accept the title .”

“ Traveler, if this has anything to do with you hurting Lisa--”

“ It’s not that. I just feel like I won’t be around long enough to be of any significance to be called an Honorary Knight .”

Aether tugged their satchel higher against their body, keeping the contents inside close.

“ I am but a simple Traveler, Grand Master Jean. I am no knight .”

Jean pat Aether on the shoulders, holding their face by the cup of her hand.

“ Your humbleness is admirable, dear Traveler. But do not be afraid to give yourself the credit you deserve .”

Aether nodded, slowly peeling Jean’s fingers away from their face.

“ Old habits die hard. Thank you for your time Lady Jean .”

And with that, Aether left the office.

“ Paimon thinks you should have told them about your origins !”

Paimon set her hands on her hips and sharply pointed a finger at Aether, they gripped their bag tightly.

“ Look, Lisa probably has her suspicions. She’ll probably tell Jean eventually .”

“ Paimon thinks she won’t! Lisa doesn’t seem like the type to do those kind of things. She seems like she’s very good at keeping secrets !”

“ You’re right actually. She definitely isn’t the type. Why was I doubting myself ?”

“ That doesn’t matter now! What matters is we need to find a way to purify the whole dragon, because these crystals are coming from him !”

“ If we need more information about Dvalin, we’d have to ask Venti about him, because he and Dvalin are friends .”

Paimon tucked her hands behind herself and titled her head in confusion.

“ Who’s Venti ?”

“ Venti is the person from the forest. You know, the one in green !”

“ Oh, you mean like that guy ?”

Paimon pointed to a figure right below them, down a flight of stairs. He was looking straight up at them, waving with a big smile in his face.

Just like in the sky, he had dark hair with his braids fading to a light blue. His cape and shorts were green, a white blouse with his ridiculous corset over it. White stockings with a dandelion pattern on the sides. That dumb green barrett with a feather and flower sticking through the top.

The two made eye contact, and he cupped his hands over his mouth, shouting at the Traveler to make sure they heard him loud and clear.

“ I told you we’d see each other soon !”

Aether forgot about Paimon and leapt over the railing, clipping their heel on the ledge and almost landing face first into the stone walkway.

“ Ven ti !”

They accidentally screamed the last part. The noise coming out more like a squeak than an actual word.

Aether hugged their friend, almost causing them to crash into the concrete.

“ We meet again, fair traveler .”

Venti wrapped his arms around Aether, and hugged them back.

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Venti knew he’d meet up with Aether soon, but he didn’t expect to see them while on the way to his favourite spot to perform.

He figured it would be easier to kill two birds with one stone and have their next meeting be right now. Instead of having them hunt them down across Mondstadt.

So he decided to yell up at the Traveler, and lo-and-behold, they made a fool of themself. Almost landing face first into the walkway. Luckily, their fast reflexes kicked in and they only wobbled while standing up.

He wasn’t expecting the Traveler to be excited when they saw each other for the third time.

He definitely wasn’t expecting a tackle hug.

He may have been Barbatos, but he didn’t think anyone truly missed his presence since Mondstadt was self-ruling and he slept for centuries at a time. Being the weakest archon, he wasn’t needed or wanted for that matter.

So receiving the warmth of a hug from Aether was a pleasant surprise he wouldn’t forget.

Being the dumb touchstarved bard he was, he buried his face into Aether’s scarf and fisted his cape. He started to laugh and cry hard. Really, really hard. 

He then began to stroke Aether’s hair, tangling his hands in their golden braid. 

In Aether’s presence, he never felt so safe.

He dragged Aether all the way to Windrise. 

Even though they were in Mondstadt, he still followed the saying, “ The walls have ears .”

Sometime during their walk, an Eye of Storm appeared out of nowhere and started attacking.

Luckily, it was easy to defeat between someone highly skilled with a sword and an Archon over thousands of years old.

how annoying.

When they reached Windrise, Venti explained everything to Aether, from the corruption Dvalin suffered to devising a plan to free Dvalin of his corruption.

( he wanted see how aether wasn’t corrupted by the crystal ).

( or how they could touch the crystal without having their fingers be constantly in pain ).

( they ended up purifying the tears venti had on him, unconsciously showing that they had no vision yet were able to possess the power of the elements ).

( venti knew from the beginning they were different from the rest when asking for power ).

“ Dvalin had been acting with such agony and sorrow, I couldn’t jet let him suffer. I just trying to help him through the pain while in the forest, but someone interrupted me .”

He jabbed at Aether, their eyes widening when they realized they were the interruption.

“ I, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t do it on purpose .”

“ Don’t you go blaming Aether for that Tone-Deaf Bard! Aether didn’t have a breeze while walking through that forest either. Coming into contact with the dragon really hurt Aether too you know !”

“ Paimon-”

“ NO. Paimon’s not letting you do this! You can’t keep downplaying yourself like this !”

“ I’ll have to agree with your companion here. I know you’re fine now, due to what happened in the sky. But you have to let us know when you’re injured or hurt .”

Aether pursed their lips and tilted their head.

“ I mean, I never really grew out of the fear of showing vulnerability. But I’ll try, I’ll try harder .”

Venti beamed at their friend, excitedly clasping both their hands in his own.

“ Good! Because we’re going to steal the Holy Lyre from the cathedral in Mondstadt and I can’t have you injured while doing a stealth mission !”

“ Hu h ?!”

“ What? What the hell?! Tone-Deaf Bard! We can’t go stealing from Mondstadt’s church. That’s your church !!”

“ Ehehe !”

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Barbados and Aether █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ were finally together and soon she’d have her beloved sister right next to her. Finally, after all this time.

“ We will be united Aether .”

She realized what she was doing, surprised by the fact she was calling her sister Aether instead of the name she was born with.

Lumine was tired. Her brain was beginning to tear into two different directions. 

would my sibling hate me for this?

She thought about the first years when her sister asked to be called Aether instead of █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ.

If looks could kill, Lumine would have probably been dead so many times over.

The absolute hatred in her sibling’s eyes when Lumine called them █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ was enough to kill whole planets.

Lumine thought about those eyes and how she reacted at first.

She found the look in her sister’s eyes amusing. It was funny to watch them wiggle and react so strongly to something as small as a name. 

She would cry. Cry and scream so loudly, it could deafen the dead. 

Lumine enjoyed watching █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ cry and beg to just please please please, call me Aether Lulu. it’s not that hard. Please please please please .

And almost every single time, Lumine would laugh at Aether’s agony and have the process repeat over and over again.

After a few years, █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ stopped talking to them all together. Stopped. She would no longer come to her when something was on her mind. Every time she tired to lure █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ into talking to her, she would just flinch away from her touch and widen the distance between them.

Lumine wondered what she did to make █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ Aether hate her so much.

Unable to understand what happened, she would start to poke and prod at her sister. Rough housing and squeezing them tight when she wanted a hug. Other times she would go as far as to hit Aether to let her know she love her.

But that seemed to only drive her kin away ever farther from her.

She remembers the day she finally snapped and decided to scream at her sibling.

█̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ had been eating by them herself, while Lumine was striking up conversation with the local population of the world. Asking for directions and how to get to the most common places to visit and see.

They spoke of monoliths and ancient civilizations, long since past. How the war between the Old Ones and the New Age clashed to form the world now. They explained how the Old Ones had long since died out and how nobody new the names before the Sun and Moon arose to power.

They talked of an ocean in the sky above islands of people who aged so slowly they seemed to be immortal. Donning tattoos of creatures, once they were ready, and given the gift of shapeshifting from their god.

Lumine had grown bored by their rambles, getting easily distracted by the idea of the fire dances and sacrifices the supposed “ Cult of One ” did for their overseer.

She saw her sister sitting by herself, wings folded and dim, more focused on creating a map or writing something she found out about the world.

She was clearly not in tune with the world. Lost in thought while staring out the entrance of the centaurs’ teepee. No amount of snapping fingers or hand waving was gonna pull her out of her thoughts, not even holding her pencil down. 

She continued to write and eat a vegetarian alternative to their dish.

On a normal day, Lumine would have been impressed with █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ ability to draw and write without looking at her paper, while also eating something at the same time. But right now, she had no time to gawk at her sister’s impressive, yet useless skills.

So, she opted to do the next best thing and pull on her sister’s ridiculously long hair. And pull she did.

Lumine yanked █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ hair so hard, her journal went flying and her pencil thumped against the leather of the teepee floor. She yelped in pain, one hand flying to pry Lumine’s hand away from her braid.

“ Hey █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ, stop zoning out-”

Before she could explain, █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ’s other hand came swinging from no where and smacked away Lumine’s hand away.

Lumine, on impulse, recoiled. Punching her sibling so hard, she made the loudest thump against the floor.

The teepee shook from the impact.

“ WHAT’S YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM ?”

In the quietest, most pathetic voice she’s ever heard, her sibling responded.

“ Lulu, I’ve told you many time before I don’t like being treated so roughly. I’ve asked you many times to stop .”

“ And I’ve told you many times to suck it up. If you want to be able to handle my kind of affection, maybe you should grow stronger and quit being a little weak bitch .”

█̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ looked at Lumine with eyes full of hurt, and then burning hatred in a matter of seconds. The difference gave Lumine whiplash. 

The centaurs in the teepee felt the sheer amount of hatred and anger radiating off her sister.

Her sister then shut her eyes, politely setting down the food, excused herself, and then heading outside.

Lumine was pissed off that her sister decided to start a fight with her and back out of it. Like the fucking coward she was.

She did the exact same thing as her sister did, set down her food and politely excused herself.

She found her sister kilometers away from the camp of centaurs. She was sitting on the edge of a small hill, the wind slightly blowing her hair away from her face. Her upper body was flushed red and tear tracks were visible, even from where Lumine standing.

( what a sensitive little bitch ).

( she starts a fight and cries about it ).

Lumine pushed her sibling, causing her to fall on her side. 

She looked at Lumine from her spot from the ground, fear rampant in her eyes.

“ What’s your problem?! You can’t just start a fight and walk away from it. If you’re going to start a fight, at least have the decency to finish it .”

“ I didn’t start in. You did .”

“ I wasn’t the one who threw the first punch! That was all you !!”

“ You were the one to pull my hair. You don’t like it when someone pulls your hair, so why should I tolerate it from you ?”

Her sister made a good point. 

But,

“ Okay, I get it. I’m sorry, that was my fault. But, everything else, that’s all you. You’re distant, you don’t acknowledge me anymore. You go off on your own and hardly talk to me. You don’t even play games with me anymore! What’s the fucking deal !?”

“ I, I don’t want to be near someone who doesn’t love me. . .”

“ What the hell do you mean?! Of course I love you! What are you bitching about ?”

“ I don’t want to be called █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ, anymore. It’s not my name, it’s not who I am anymore. I’ve begged for you to call me Aether so many times. I’ve let you slide with calling me a woman, your sister, a girl. I’ve asked you to stop and you just don’t. I’m tired, Lulu. I’m so sick and tired of you !”

“ Aether sounds nothing like █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ!! I’m not going to fucking call you that. You were born a girl, therefore you are a girl. Nothing will change that !”

Her sister sighed before continuing on again. 

“ Alright. Have it your way, Lumine .”

Lumine felt herself bristle at that. She hated that. It sounded wrong. She was always Lulu, or Egghead, or weed whacker, or whatever ridiculous nickname █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ had come up with.

Never Lumine.

“ Don’t call me that .”

“ Why? You’re name is Lumine. You were born as Lumine, therefore you will always be Lumine. At least, by your logic .”

“ That’s different .”

“ Is it really ?”

Lumine had no retort to that. She made a good point, by her logic she should be called Lumine all the time, but she isn’t.

She likes being called Lulu, or weed whacker, and her sister loves and respects her enough to understand that.

But, 

Lumine doesn’t do the same for them.

For █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ.

She realized she didn’t truly love █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ .

She had to let go of her pride if she wanted to have a good relationship with her sibling. She didn’t want them to end up as two stars in the Universe, billions of light years away from each other.

She sighed.

“ Okay, I understand Aether. I may not understand currently, but I will try my best .”

Aether started to cry again and pulled themself off the ground. she They were shivering, furiously wiping away at her their tears.

“ Come here, Aether. I know you want to hug .”

“ Will you hit me if I do ?”

Then, Lumine almost started crying then. She quickly grabbed Aether and pulled them in for a hug.

She didn’t realize how badly she messed up their relationship until Aether, violently, flinched in her arms. Locking up and not moving. 

( i caused this ).

( i caused this, and now they resent me ).

( i’m so sorry aether ).

( i’ll be better. i’ll try to be better from now on ).

She remembers how gullible  A e t h e r  was into thinking they actually cared about respecting them. Cared about keeping her promise.

That was all a front. A convincing facade she showed off to the world.

In truth, her feelings never changed at all.

She still believed that █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ was a born a girl, therefore she was a girl. Nothing changed. Nothing has changed.

Not then, not now.

█̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ was nothing but an item to her. Her weak, weak sibling. Gullible and stupid and naive. 

So, so, so naive.

She new █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ was going to hate them for calling her by the things she despised.

( sister, stupid, retard, useless, cur, pygmy ).

( she would hate them all, and lumine would revel in her suffering ).

The burning hatred in █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ’s eyes could be useful to the Abyss.

Her sister was never angry for long, but when she was,

she b u r n e d .

Her sister’s hatred burned bright and strong. Stronger than Lumine’s, which had now grown so common it was basically a second skin.

The Abyss fueled off of anger and hatred and fury. Lumine could only be the runner of the engine for so long before she ran herself thin.

But with █̶̣̲̆̅̽̈́̚͘█̴̨̧̘͕͙͓͓̞̋ͅͅ█̷͇͍̮̦̲̬̞̞͔̦̞̙̟̹̦̈́̊̈́͒͜͜█̵̝̩͎̻͈̋͒̄̑̌̋͂́̔█̴̧̨̙͎̞͔͚̩͙̗͓̝̝͊̐̾͂̃̈́̐̅͜█̵̢̰͇̞͔͕̫̠͍͆͑͗͜ͅͅ? Her fury was so rare, burned and scorched for so little time, it could fuel a society for weeks and they’d be going strong.

Lumine would make her sister hate her.

She looked at her clenched fist, remembering the sight of blood on it from a fight they had when they were very, very young, and smiled.

She would make her sister hate her with everything she had.

And she didn’t care how she did it.

( she would beat her into the ground with her fists, torment her with so much noise she would cry and scream from it ).

( she would make the room so hot she’d pass out from heatstroke. make the room so cold she’d beg for even the thinnest, most uncomfortable of jackets. just to keep warm ).

( she’d scream at her until her throat was raw and her sibling had glassy eyes and didn’t move for days at a time ).

( she’d lock her in a closet and refuse to have it open until she promised not to tell anyone ).

Lumine would make sure her sibling despised her with every fiber of her being and she didn’t care how she got there.

Lumine would make sure her sister blistered and burned and scorched with nothing but anger and fury and hate and pique until there was nothing left.

After all. . .

There is no room for love in the Abyss. . .

“ She may contain the urge to run away,

But hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks. . .”

Chapter Text

Stealing the Holy Lyre was easier said than done.

At first the whole ” stealing ” part was a joke. But considering they heard Venti scream, “ Be gay, do crime ,” and then commit light arson and steal dandelion wine from one of the taverns.

One second thought, Aether should have believed Venti immediately.

Sneaking into the cathedral in the dead of night itself was easy, getting into the area below the cathedral was not.

As expected, there were many guards patrolling the Lyre.

Aether had to grab Paimon a couple times and hold her in their arms to keep her from giving away their position.

The guards seemed to be closing in on them the deeper they went into the underbelly of the church, but maybe Aether was just being paranoid and Paimon really wanted to talk. Despite the situation calling for quiet.

It all paid off and they skimmed the wood of the Lyre with their fingertips,

But then a Cicin mage appeared right before them and snatched the Lyre. Electricity sparked from her fingertips and it shot Aether back towards the entrance.

The Cicin mage put a finger to her lips, telling Aether to remain quiet. 

Through her mask, they swore her eyes glowed red. But they couldn’t ponder on that thought before lunging at the mage, causing her to disappear with Electro energy.

“ Where did she go ?”

Aether and Paimon looked at each other, and on of the guards caught them in the room where the Lyre used to be contained.

“ Stop! Thieves !”

well shit. . .

“ Tone-Deaf Bard!! We got in trouble !”

Venti was sitting on the stone banister, overlooking the statue of himself. 

He stared at the guards that were starting to swarm Aether, as they started to sprint out of the cathedral.

He grabbed Aether’s hand and leapt off the banister, summoning a flurry of air currents and whisking them away into the sky. The guards tried to chase after them, activating their own gliders to try and follow them. But Venti would immediately drop the wind, causing the guards to drop out of the sky.

Venti accidentally caused Aether and Paimon to crash into the head of his statue and into the rooftops of a couple buildings. Some shingles were lost, but luckily no body woke up.

“ Aether, down here !”

Venti pointed to the entrance of a tavern. Venti landed on his feet and dashed into the tavern.

Aether, mean while, crash landed into the pavement and stumbled into the tavern. Venti deactivated the wind current to early which caused Aether to loose their balance with the wind glider.

“ Aether, we can’t just lie here and wait to be caught !”

Paimon pulled on Aether’s braid, they smacked Paimon’s hands and shook their head. They didn’t notice the slight hurt painted on Paimon’s face. They were more worried about fighting off memories and seeking shelter within the tavern.

she had pulled on their braid so many times before, their reaction was honed and immediate.

she would always comment on the fact their hair was long, long long. how they would mostly wear crop tops or breastplates. 

there was always something wrong with aether. always something she would find and pick apart at, seemingly, without any remorse.

aether would try, try, try to please her. get her to stop being so mean. yes, siblings close in age bickered and picked at each other, they would sometimes fight and tease. but lumine’s always felt different than the short term company they formed while in the worlds.

instead of hers feeling warm and playful, it felt more malicious in nature. but that was how she showed affection. that’s how she showed she cared.

right? 

if she treated you so badly, why are you still looking for her?

because i love her and that’s what family does. we look out for each other. . .

They were pulled out of their thoughts when Venti tugged on their scarf. It was light.

“ Hey, Aether. The tavern owner is letting us hide on the second floor. We gotta go up there .”

They nodded and allowed Venti to pulled them up the stairs.

Aether just became so tired out of nowhere. They were, most likely, emotionally tired, as their body could not and did not tire out. Ever. 

They couldn’t and didn’t need to sleep, stars fueled themselves up until the last moments of their lives. Right before they eventually died out.

While they were hiding upstairs, safe with Venti, maybe they’ll just rest their head for a moment.

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Venti strolled into the tavern, light on his feet, asking for the most inconspicuous table they had.

The tavern owner, a handsome younger man with porcelain skin and fire red hair, told them the entire second floor was free of people and ready to be used, of course they took it.

He thanked the young man and pulled Aether along, but was gentle about it.

Venti, although a a dumbass, could tell when someone needed to be handled with care. He spoke in a soft voice and kept his touched brief when leading Aether.

They looked really tired.

They didn’t even fight against Venti’s lead, they were a little more than dough.

Venti sighed and sat them down across from him. The Traveler rested their head against the table and slowed their breathing. 

They weren’t asleep, but simply resting. Cooling down.

Venti pursed his lips and decided to stand behind Aether, combing his fingers through their golden locks.

They bristled at first, then relaxed against the palm of his hand.

“ May I ?”

Aether seemed to read the implications of Venti’s question and nodded along.

With tactical care, Venti undid the braid and brushed out any tangles and knots with his fingers. Paimon joined in, taking a small chunk of their hair and braiding a small piece of it while sitting in their lap.

“ Paimon’s sorry for pulling your hair. Paimon didn’t mean to upset you .”

Aether pulled Paimon in for a hug and put her white locks, her crown tilting due to the force. 

She seemed to take that as acceptance and snuggled into their chest.

Venti himself was starting to get tired and quickly finished off Aether’s braid, retying it with the white feathers and rope.

He gently pat Aether of the back and left the duo to their own devices. Heading down to the second floor once he saw the guards has left the tavern.

He saw the tavern owner sass them into submission and, basically, kick them out of the tavern.

Venti saw this as an excellent opportunity to try and do a slight of hand trick. He slipped a bit of wine into a cup and drink it.

“ I know you tried to steal wine over the counter. I don’t allow minors to drink .”

Venti laughed and continue to sip his wine, swiveling in the high chair to face the owner. He was glaring daggers into him.

“ I am older than your grandpa, young man .”

The tavern owner sighed and shook his head. Just then, Aether descended down the stairs, with somewhat droopy eyes and their ahoge was sticking in the other direction. Paimon was sitting on the top of their head.

They were both smiling, Aether passing Paimon a Chicken Mushroom Skewer, signing to be careful and not get crumbs in their hair.

Aether asked for a drink and did not read the room until the tavern owner spoke.

“ I admire your guts with stealing the Holy Lyre out of the Chapel. I’m not entirely surprised you managed to get away so easily. The Knights of Favonius are inefficient as always .”

“ Hey listen here Fire Face! We didn’t steal the Holy Lyre. It was snatched before we could get to it by a Cicin Mage .”

Aether squawked and pulled Paimon off their head, making her float in front of them.

They weren’t signing anything, but instead wildly gesturing and Paimon crossed her arms.

“ Yeah yeah yeah, whatever .”

“ You understood that ?”

“ They were just scolding me for calling this dude, Fire Face .”

Venti laughed, but the tavern owner just scolded. 

“ If the Fatui stole the Lyre, the Knights are even more incompitent than I thought .”

“ Regardless of what you think of them, the Knights still think Aether is the one who stole the damn Lyre. They’re still after them and Paimon doesn’t want their friend to get arrested for something they didn’t do !”

The redhead sighed. Resting his face in the palm of his hand.

He looked annoyed.

“ Well, according to the knights that walked into my tavern, they only description they have of the theif is ‘ blonde ’. So as long as you stay inside my tavern, you should be safe .”

He turned to face Venti, “ However, there is the matter of stolen wine .”

“ Oh dear wine owner--”

“ My name is Diluc .”

“ Might I offer a performance as payment ?”

Diluc grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Damn, he wasn’t an easy one to cheer up.

what a buzz kill.

“ Sure, but that depends on how good the performance is .”

“ Oh be sure it is! I didn’t win the ‘ Mondstadt’s Greatest Bard ’ award for nothing !”

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Venti’s performance was one of the strangest things he’s ever seen. 

Now, Diluc wasn’t the most well educated person when it came to Modstadt’s history, but he was pretty sure that the story Venti told was false.

Maybe.

He would rather die than admit he didn’t know something.

Regardless of the bard’s performance, he was more interested in the young looking boy ( ? ) in front of him.

Just like in the Temple of the Wolf, they / he had their strange clothing. It didn’t belong to any region specifically. They / he, didn’t look Snezhnayan, Mondstadtian, or Liyuenese. They definitely weren’t from Sumeru or Natlan. 

Fontaine maybe. Everyone dressed so extravagantly, it might have been an option. But looking Aether up and down, they’re getup was too simple to belong to Fontaine.

an outlander, perhaps?

Diluc cut off his thought process there. Outlanders never came to Teyvat and were only spoken of in myth. Besides, their entire existence was complete bogus.

He remembers from his three years away from Mondstadt, Outlanders were sometimes called Starchildren, or “ Viatorem a Stellas ” as the older generations called them.

He thought the myth was preposterous, and he still does.

people cannot be born from stars.

to believe something as fictitious as starchildren was ridiculous.

starchildren do not exist.

At least, he now know that this so called, “ Traveler ” Kaeya called does exist. And that they were not just a trick of the light.

Regardless of whether the Viatorem a Stellas actually exist , or Venti’s absurd performance, the Holy Lyre was stolen by the Fatui and they needed to get it back.

“ I’ll let you wine bill slip for now. We have more important matters to take care of. Like the fact one of Mondstadt’s most sacred treasures has been stolen .”

Aether raised their hands and started to form patterns with them.

Diluc recognized it as sign language, but couldn’t remember all of the words. He stopped practicing sign language after he quit the Knights.

He felt bad about not being able to understand what Aether was saying, at least not totally. 

“ I’m apologize for my ignorance, but I do not understand sign language .”

Aether’s hands halted in mid air and their fingers started to twitch. They blinked a couple of times, before letting their hands fall to their side.

“ You got so used to people being able to understand you, you forgot there might be some who couldn’t. Did you ?” the small pixie hid her hands behind her back and leaned forward.

Aether nodded and their companion pat their head. 

“ It’s alright, you’ll always have me to translate for you !”

Venti placed his hands on his hips and started to gesture dramatically, “ Besides that small mishap, should we devise a plan to get the Lyre back? It’s quite essentially to my plan to cleanse Dvalin .”

“ Dvalin? You mean Stormterror? The dragon that attacked Mondstadt and disappeared ?”

“ Yup! That’s him !”

Diluc sighed, and felt like he got 10 years older in a single sentence.

“ If we’re dealing with a dragon, please allow me to gather one of my contacts .”

this is going to take awhile.

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Aether didn’t expect one of Diluc’s contacts to be Lady Jean.

He said he hated the Knights of Favonius, but one of his contacts was the head of the knights?

i haven’t even known this guy for a day and he’s already confusing me.

They shook their head and waited patiently for Jean to arrive. They stared out the window of the second floor.

Diluc wouldn’t give them any alcohol ( fair, but their not underage ) and it felt really condescending when he gave them grape juice.

“ Grape juice is nasty. It’s doesn’t even taste like grapes .”

“ If it doesn’t taste like grapes, then what does it taste like ?” Venti downed another glass of wine and set the cup on the table.

“ It just tastes like purple !”

Venti laughed at them as they stared at the full glass of grape juice, half tempted to give it to Paimon.

Aether always hated the flavor of grape juice, grape soda, grape-flavored medicine. Anything grape flavored was an abomination and did not deserve to exist.

Grapes tasted nothing like grape-flavored things. It was gross and the absolute worst knock off anyone could possibly imagine.

Just as they were about to pass the drink to Paimon, they heard the clonking of armor and the creak of the tavern door.

They looked down from the second floor and watched as Jean entered the tavern.

is?

is jean diluc’s contact?

Jean must’ve noticed the Aether descending down the stairs, as she turned to face them. Hearing their loud footsteps.

“ Traveler! Good to see you again! I didn’t think you were the one to steal the Holy Lyre, but everyone has different assets to their personality for a reason .”

She dusted off her cape and fixed the sheath of her sword.

“ We didn’t steal the Lyre. We tried to, but it was stolen by a Cicin mage. The Fatui got to it before we could .”

“ That. That’s definitely not good .”

“ Yeah no kidding. Getting the Holy Lyre is essentially to my plan to cleanse Dvalin and free him from the corruption that plague his blood !”

Jean puzzled at the bard.

“ Why might you need the Holy Lyre ?”

Venti’s cape flapped in an invisible wind, him and Aether making total eye contact.

“ He is Barbatos. He needs the Lyre to draw out Dvalin, since that is the only music we would respond to .”

Diluc and Jean gave Aether and Venti skeptical looks, clearly not believing that this broke, scrawny thing of a bard was their god Barbatos.

“ Is that why you said you were far older than my grandpa earlier ?”

“ Yup! My alcohol tolerance is far, far, far higher than any mortals’. A mortal would have died of alcohol poisoning 53 times over is they consumed the amount I’ve had over the years .”

Diluc squawked at that, but Jean snapped her fingers. Drawing their attention back to the matter at hand.

“ We can talk about Venti’s ridiculous alcohol tolerance later. Right now, we have to get the Lyre back from the Fatui and draw out Dvalin. There’s only so much I can do before I’ll be back into a corner by the diplomats .”

“ There’s only so much the Knights can do. You’re system is so incredibly flawed. It’s honestly embarrassing .”

“ Diluc, I though we were supposed to be coming up with a plan to get the Lyre back ?”

“ Right right right ,” Diluc sighed and contemplated for a few seconds.

“ I know of a place where the Fatui might be hiding out. They could have the Lyre there. It’s the most likely place they’re hiding it out, but I don’t know for sure .”

“ Are there any other Fatui hideouts nearby ?”

Diluc gestured for them to come to the counter. He pulled out a piece of parchment paper, unfolding it on the wooden top. Aether had to climb a chair to look at it.

He grabbed a marker and circled three of the many dots he had previously marked on the map.

“ These are the areas that they could be hiding out in. I’m not 100% sure which one they could be in, but my gut is telling me it’s one of these .”

He pointed to the one furthest from the city, “ Aether and I will insect this one here. It’s the biggest one and probably has the most people. Jean will investigate the one closest to the city. Venti will scour through the one to the east .”

He rolled up the map, “ How does that sound ?”

“ Diluc ,” Venti perked up, “ you are quite skilled with your claymore-”

“ This is the biggest hideout out of all of them. It would be far, far, far faster if there were two people. It’s not a lack of strength on my part, it’s about how quickly and how well we can get this done .”

He breathed through his nose and folded his hands.

“ Are we all clear ?”

Both Jean and Venti nodded, leaving the tavern to do their duties.

Aether bristled at the comment Diluc made, “ Are you implied I can’t handle my own in a fight ?”

“ Aether want’s to know if Master Diluc thinks they are weak .”

Diluc rolled up the map, sliding it into a locked drawer underneath the counter top. He placed his folded hands over his mouth and stared at Aether through the thickness of his fringes.

Aether didn’t make eye contact, choosing instead to glare daggers into his forehead. Hoping that they could burn a hole through Diluc’s skull.

“ We shall see .”

i am not weak.

i promise.

i will show you i’m not as weak as i was before.

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Diluc, at first, did not think much of the blonde that had accompanied Kaeya.

They were as intimidating as a kitten, frail looking and overall too bright to look like a threat.

An impractical breastplate that only covered half of their torso, leaving their organ exposed. An impractical cape and extremely long hair that could be used as a weak spot.

Diluc had long hair too, maybe he had no right to speak, but it wasn’t as long as Aether’s.

Where his was just to his shoulder blades, Aether’s went all the way to their waist.

He was annoyed over the fact he had to take care of such a frail individual, regretting his decision to have them accompany him to the hideout. But the moment they stepped into battle, he no longer thought that true.

Aether was but a mere flash, defeating the slimes and ridding the hilichurls before he could even draw his claymore.

Diluc laid the finishing blow to the Cicin mages and leftover hilichurls. He only truly helped Aether when they struggled with the Mitachurl.

He was somewhat embarrassed to think Aether could not defend themself from anything. Diluc regrets ever judging Aether’s battle prowess based on their appearance.

( never judge a book by it’s cover ).

( he should have followed that after what happened to kaeya ).

( he just never seemed to learn ).

( it wasn’t kaeya’s fault though ).

Kaeya wasn’t joking when he said Aether was terrifying. Aether was skilled, going through the motions with far more fluidity than any knight.

He doesn’t know where or when they learned to fight with such fury, but he hoped that they would never come to blows against each other. 

Aether was fast and reckless. Cutting through enemies like they were butter.

At the end of the domain, they had some trouble against a Fatui agent who wielded spinning knives. Each ones dealing pyro and burning.

Aether was quick to knock the knives out of the agent’s hands and fling them deep into the wall. They found another knife and kicked the agent to the floor, using the dagger and their sword to lodge him into the floor.

Diluc held his claymore to the agent’s throat, the fear evident in his eyes.

“ Where is the Lyre ?”

The agent laughed, attempting to mask his fear.

“ I have no idea what you’re talking about .”

Diluc heat his sword, lifting it higher until it just barely touched his skin.

The agent tried to scoot away from the heated sword, but couldn’t. Realizing just how deep Aether had dug their blades into the stone floor.

Diluc continued to heat his claymore. Making it ever so slightly warmer.

He had no sympathy for Fatui and was not above killing him right then and there, but Aether kicked away his claymore, and pushed him away from the agent.

Before he could react, Aether sat on the agent, signing for Paimon to translate.

“ Aether is saying, ‘ If you tell us where the Lyre it, we will allow you to leave here and seek medical aid for your burns .’ ”

Diluc could hear the Fatui agent’s heavy breathing from where was standing. Maybe we was weighing his options, checking to see which was the best option. 

He seemed to take up Aether’s, nodding in agreement to help them. Diluc was unable to read his facial expression due the mask. He was angry at Aether, as they pulled the dagger and their sword from the ground and helped the agent up.

Aether dusted off the agent’s coat, they smiled at him, allowing him to guide them to a secret opening in the wall. 

He pressed a brick and revealed the Holy Lyre, which was placed on a pedestal. Clean and only slightly dented.

“ I tried to keep it in shape for the Tsaritsa, but the Cicin mage who stole it was less than kind to your Lyre .”

Aether signed, Paimon translating as they went along, “ It’s alright. Nothing is beyond repair. Tell me, what is your name ?”

The Fatui agent pulled off his hood and mask, revealing a slightly tanned face, red eyes and dark, shaggy hair.

“ My name is Artem .”

Paimon continued translating, “ ‘ You should really look up a different profession. The Fatui are not the greatest diplomats and you could have been killed if we were not nicer .’ ”

Artem tucked his mask into a pocket in his coat.

“ Maybe I should .”

And with that, Artem left the hideout. And they did not see him again.

Aether hugged the Lyre close and followed Artem out of the hideout. Diluc, grumpily, follow suit. 

“ Why did you choose to spare the Agent? They are an enemy of Mondstadt are they not ?”

Aether did not make eye contact with Diluc, save for the side glare, and headed to Starsnatch Cliff.

“ Ouch. Paimon didn’t think a person could convey such strong feelings through sign language. You’re lucky Aether is was nice than he could be .”

“ What did they say .”

Paimon floated next not Diluc, keeping her hands behind her back as she spoke. 

The words she translated remind Diluc of simpler times, words that he’s heard before, but long forgotten.

“ Aether said, ‘ Just because they are an enemy, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat them with kindness. We need to care for each other. Because after all, we are all human .’ ”

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Lumine could could only dance around her throne room in anticipation.

So many of her soldiers were already being put into good use. Drawing out Aether and finally, finally , that annoying redhead that kept trying to gain more information on the Abyss Order.

She wanted to get rid of two birds with one stone, and have her dearest Tsaritsa rid the world of Diluc, but they already made an agreement. 

Lumine, despite what others might think of her, did not push past boundaries set by contracts. She was no savage and will not ask anymore without giving.

Besides, She’d have her sister take care of the filthy redhead once she got her hands on her. 

She would mold and sculpt her sister to fit her own image. Make her felt nothing but hate and agony. 

She would take her sword and dig it into her sister, carving her from the inside out to fit her huge puzzle.

Once captured, she would make her the greatest force of destruction ever seen.

She knew what her sister did and did not like. She told her so many times, back in simpler times when there wasn’t a war going on.

When Lumine didn’t have to change herself into a mastermind, pulling everyone along like grotesque puppets.

Her sister would become the engine of despair and hate, pique and malignity the Abyss needed to operate.

But, there would come a time when Lumine would eventually break her sister. She knew this. Minds are fragile and there was so much they could take before they eventually shattered.

But she planned for that too.

Even the most useless of dogs could have a good use.

After all, it would be a shame if her soldiers went hungry.

Even the most broken of curs could be turned to meat and eaten. 

She’d had to apologize to her dearest Tsaritsa.

She had told a tiny, tiny, tiny , yet most regrettable white lie to her darling.

“ Lumine, why are you searching so hard for your sibling? What is driving you to go to such lengths ?”

“ I do what I do out of love of course. I love my sibling and I miss her dearly .”

She did not. 

She did not love her sibling. Whatever love she might have had, died, the moment she felt betrayal. The moment she was left behind to die in the Abyss.

where ever you are, Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, i hope you’re ready.

She looked at the ashen sky of khaenri’ah The Abyss, the moon shining deathly pale over her empire.

i hope you prepare, i hope you are ready, i hope you’re waiting for me.

because when i come, with my army, i will slaughter you.

it will be the biggest bloodbath the worlds have ever seen.

She stared at the edge of her kingdom, the portal blazing as her soldiers awaited the signal to step foot into her darling’s Snezhnaya. 

this world will come to its end, but not by your hands.

teyvat will fall under mine.

and my sister will be the means to it’s ends.

Chapter Text

As soon as Ajax got the opportunity, he stripped himself of his title. 

He, with Zhongli’s help, managed to get his family out of Snezhnaya. A pirate didn’t charge him the normal amount, although he was more than willing to pay the full expense. He had more money than he could ever need.

( the more he thought about it, the more he probably will never go back to using said money ).

( he gave up his title, gave up the name given to him by his god ).

( it was better if he didn’t use that money at all ).

( much safer that way ).

The pirate’s name was Beidou and she was trusted by the Tianquan, therefore very trustworthy according to Zhongli. 

“ If Lady Ninggaung trusts Beidou enough to carry out her dirty work, then she has my loyalty .”

Zhongli trusted Beidou, and by extension, Ajax did too. Normally, Ajax wouldn’t place his heart in the hands of anyone, but he was desperate to get his family out of the frozen hellscape that was Snezhnaya and was willing to go through any lengths to do it.

Due to his work ethic, we wasn’t as close with his family, especially his father. But Teucer and Tonia meant the world to him, cared for him more than his parents ever did, and they were close to the family he grew distant to.

For Teucer and Tonia, he had to bring the whole family to Liyue.

For his father, it was a debate.

Back when he was a young boy, known nothing but bloody knuckles and bruises, his father felt, distant from him. Only ever yelling or saying how violent he was. Only truly interacting with him to go ice fishing or the latter.

But Teucer and Tonia loved their father.

So he brought him to, although he secretly loathed the thought.

He couldn’t have his favourites be sad. Never. They had to stay happy no matter what happened.

Even though his relationship with his father was strained at best and unstable at worst, everyone else cared for him.

The adults of the household understood what was happening, as they knew he was working for the Fatui, they just didn’t know he was a Harbinger.

He remembers visiting home one time, and collapsing from work. Blood still staining his shoes and the cuffs of his shirt, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Coral coloured hair disheveled and pupils dilated. His fingers still twitching from the thrill of collecting debt.

He was convinced that if he were to look in a mirror, he would have looked crazy.

“ Big brother ?”

Teucer had be watching him lay on top of the table. His eyes heavy from sleep and wearing his grey pajamas.

It was late at night, and Teucer probably woke up to get a glass of water or maybe a midnight snack. And instead he found Ajax, bloodstained and tired.

“ Big brother, what’s on your shirt ?”

Ajax started to panic, coming up with a convincing lie on the spot.

“ It’s just paint. The guys back at the shop needed to be shown how to create the new model of toys we got going through .”

“ Oh, okay .”

Teucer yawned, holding his hands up, wanting to be held.

“ Can you tuck me back into bed ?”

“ Burrito style ?”

He nodded, closing his eyes. Yawning a second time before his face pulling into a sleepy smile.

Ajax carried Teucer to bed, tucking in the covers and layers of blanket, fluffing his pillow and finding his favourite toy to push in between his arms as he fell asleep.

The entire house was silent, all the doors were locked, as Ajax let his walls down and cry.

It was a bitter memory, and he explained that the toy factory was forced to shut down after he quit the Fatui.

Teucer and Tonia were deeply upset over this, but they understood that their big brother could no longer perform his job.

His father on the other hand, was suspicious. 

He loved to fight and that was the main reason he sent him off, but now he was quitting.

“ I realize that I loved my family more than I love to fight. And it took me too long to realize this. I’m sorry mom .”

Ajax said this one night on Beidou’s boat, while his mother cradled his head in her hands. She cried as he sank into the palms of her hands.

“ I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry my baby Ajax. I’m so sorry . . .”

He couldn’t tell what she was sorry for. The fact she sent him off to the Fatui, she let him go after he came back from the Abyss, the fact he’s in his twenties and is so, so starved for physically affection that he thinks any hand raised to him is going to hurt. Maybe it’s the fact he was the middle child, and almost immediately forgotten in favour of his younger siblings or the professions of his older siblings.

He didn’t respond to her, but instead nodded and let himself be pet for the first time in years.

He helped her into a comfortable bed somewhere on the boat. She smiled, clearly tired from the trip and slightly sea-sick. 

She cuddled up next to her husband and little Tonia in their bed.

Ajax chose to wander around the ship that night, really wanting to down a whole bottle of Fire Water and pass out from how many emotions he was feeling.

He ended up not finding liquor, but instead Zhongli. He had his hair united and messy, the hair tie on his wrist. He was donning a simple white and gold zhong dan. There were eye bags underneath his closed eyes, he looked exhausted. Leaning back, his head against the wall as he sat on the window seat.

Ajax sat next to him, leaning his head on his shoulder.

Zhongli jostled a bit, surprised by the sudden weight, but made no movement to push him away. He, instead, repositioned Ajax into a more comfortable predicament. Having his head in the comfort of his lap.

Zhongli then began to comb his finger through Ajax’s coral locks.

He flinched, the movement being eerily similar to how the Tsaritsa used to pet his hair, like a prized show dog.

“ It’s okay Ajax. I’m not the Tsaritsa .”

Zhongli carrassed this head, similar to how he’d hold a Glaze Lily. Gentle and caring. Knowing how delicate ne needed to be.

Ajax buried himself into Zhongli’s stomach, clutching the fabric of his shirt and leaned into the warm fingers. Glowing with Geo energy.

“ The Tsaritsa used to have me sit at her feet during important, diplomatic meetings and comb her finger through my hair. Back then, I thought it was because she loved me, but ,” His grip tightened on the cotton fabric of Zhongli’s nightshirt.

“ Now, now I know it’s because she saw me as a prized fighting dog. I meant nothing to her .”

Zhongli stroked his cheek, with such kindness, he almost cried. 

“ I’ll tell you something about the Tsaritsa, that not even her subjects know. It was apart of a contract we made long ago, but as you are no longer a citizen of Snezhnaya, I can tell you freely.

The Tsaritsa used to love someone, once. But she had her heart broken. She cared for this person so deeply, she wanted to split her Gnosis and be with them forever. But, they betrayed her during the Archon War and broke her heart. They shattered her heart into a million pieces and she vowed to new love again.

At the end of the war, she told me to never tell this to her people, ‘ I don’t want my people to know the pain of loving someone. I don’t want them to feel the pain of heartbreak. I can’t allow them to love as deeply as I once did. Morax, I want you to never tell my people how deeply I care about them. You can never tell them my means to protect them. They can never know how much I love them .’”

“ She may care deeply about us, but the way she shows it, it sure as hell doesn’t feel like love .”

Zhongli chuckled, continued to stroke bright locks of soft hair. The feeling soothing his worries and being, oddly, relaxing.

“ I don’t agree with how she show affection either. It’s much too rough, too cold and easily brittle. I doubt she’s capable of showing genuine love anymore, giving too many Cryo Visions to the broken hearted. Too many Visions to allogenes who cared a little too deeply and paid the price for it.

I’m glad you didn’t have to bare that pain. Whatever you did to gain your Hydro Vision, I know you earned it. There aren’t many, and The Hydro Archon gives her visions to those who have served Justice. You are lucky .”

Hearing Zhongli go on and on about history, with his voice so soothing, he began to drift off to sleep. The warmth from this kind, soothing Archon filling the hole in his heart, carved away by his home Archon.

He was just about to fall asleep when he heard something ugly at the back of his mind.

cruel laughter a woman’s voice.

Something wasn’t right.

an uncomfortable pulling sensation.

He snapped his eyes open, staring into darkness.

the chord getting thinner and thinner.

His breathing became laboured. Ajax began to panic and spiral downwards.

“ Ajax? Ajax what’s wrong? Are you okay? Ajax listen to me .”

“ did you think you could get away so easily ?”

He dug his fingers into the fabric of the other’s shirt. Bruising the skin underneath.

Stopstopstopstop. 

the chord was severed with a painfully snap.

And Ajax started to scream.

“ i thought i taught you better than that .”

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

The Tsaritsa was sad to see her most devote attack dog go rogue, but alas, there was no room for fear in the Fatui.

If he showed fear, and reacted that strongly to her diplomatic decisions, then she no longer wanted him.

Her pathetic attack dog had finally outlived his purpose.

She severed his connection to his Delusion, as a punishment for betraying her heart.

She made sure the severing of the Delusion hurt.

Not bastard would get away with breaking her heart, especially one she cared for. One she thought of as her own personaldog son.

“ What a waste of potential, all for something as feeble as love .”

She knew she was being hypocritical, being the Archon of Love and Cryo. But she’s tired of granting people her Eyes, only to have their hearts broken.

But, Tartaglia was not one of hers. He possessed A Hydro vision.

He was one of hers.

So she shattered his Delusion, and reveled in the sound of his screams from the other side.

Chapter Text

Meeting up with Diluc, Jean, and Aether on the edge of Starsnatch Cliff was so, so refreshing.

It felt like such a breath of fresh air after spending the entire day alone. The minty breeze blowing through and against their hair, the smell of the water.

It felt like they had stepped through a screen of water and went outside on a clear day. Nice and slightly chilly. 

He watched as Aether stood a single step away from the edge, the ocean breeze blowing them back. Their cape flowing behind them like wings.

They looked ethereal. And if Venti didn’t know any better, he would have thought they were an Archon.

Their golden hair glowed, their caped looked like wings.

They turned around, breeze blowing their locks into their face, braid flowing in the wing. Hands full of purified tears.

Venti knew them well enough to not need words to understand what they were asking.

My I have the Lyre, Venti?

Go ahead .

He handed the Lyre to Aether, and they placed the tears onto the holy instrument. It glowed a blue colour, similar to the colour of the sky. The Anemo energy resonating deep within Venti, comforting, like an old friend.

Aether handed the Lyre back to Venti, holding it with one hand

Venti smiled, and swapped positions on the cliff with Aether. 

Now, he was teetering over the edge. This time, he knew if he were to fall, he would be capable of catching himself.

Venti hummed an ancient tune, long forgotten to time, and plucked the strings. The callouses on his fingers numbing the sting from the tight strings.

Within a matter of minutes, his old friend Dvalin was floating over the party. Teal eyes blazing with barely contained anger.

“ Barbatos ?”

“ Hello again, old friend .”

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Aether had their breath sucked out of them by the magnificence that was Dvalin.

He was just as beautiful as they remembered. The pure, unfiltered sunlight bringing out all the fine details of his scaled body. The darker scaled, not unlike the midnight sky of Mondstadt.

His wings reminded Aether of the blue monarch butterflies from one of the worlds they visited with their sibling.

They could see the corrupted blood vessels sticking out of the back of his neck and the back of his skull. Pulsing with dark magic and vile energy.

They needed to rid Dvalin of it as soon as possible.

“ Barbatos ?”

“ Hello again, old friend .”

Venti stepped up to Dvalin, pressing his forehead against the dragon’s. Aether felt to touched, they held Paimon’s hand as the dragon’s wings flapped gently.

Venti stroked Dvalin’s scales with such kindness, his finger tips filing through layers of feathers and scales like you would a flower’s petals.

Aether wanted someone to pet them, hold them in a similar way. Tears built up in their eyes, a mind full of longing and loneliness.

“ Give me a little time, and we can purify you old friend. We can free you from this pain .”

Dvalin growled, eyes going from teal to a magenta.

“ You want to purify my now, but you left me here to suffer millennia ago !” Dvalin snarled at Venti, growing agitated and angry.

Jean pulled Paimon away from Aether, while Diluc unsheathed his claymore.

Aether remained unmoving, unaffected by the harshness of the winds.

something’s not right.

The air grew heavy, a Cryo Abyss Mage appeared on Dvalin’s back.

you’re not supposed to be here.

It cackled as the veins from corrupted blood clots grew darker and darker.

“ You see they are trying to slay you. Barbatos only summoned you to execute you .”

Aether stepped forward, dropping their their sword.

he was kind to you, yet you listen to that creature.

“ Dvalin. That’s not true .”

The dragon growled, not out of malice but in pain.

“ Look at them. They hold weapons to have you slain. They’re here to betray you again !!”

why do believe his lies?

“ It’s time for you to serve your master !!”

The Abyss Mage raised his staff and dug it into the blood clot.

Dvalin screamed in pain, and Aether had enough.

you shouldn’t suffer like this.

Aether grabbed Venti’s wrist and slew the Mage. They burned the Mage from the inside out.

An unholy being, has no place being near someone as sacred as Dvalin.

Aether was so tired of having people be used for evil.

( their power crackled yet again ).

( you can save him ).

( right here, right now ).

“ You have no master !”

They gripped the blood clot in the back of Dvalin’s neck, their hand turning the clot from magenta to white.

The blackened veins pushed his corruption out of his body, bleeding through the cyan scales. His scales slowly being dyed black, dripping and bleeding into the wind.

Aether’s grip tightened, and the clot shattered underneath their grip. 

Dvalin shined, the whole sky burning white.

The dragon screamed as he whisked them all into the sky.

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Diluc was not a religious man, by any means.

He was the opposite. 

He believed that only a specific group of people should be bestowed Visions, and those, like the Fatui, likeKaeya, but he respected people enough to know they did something to earn their Visions.

But, he understood when was the right time to get on your knees and pray. He understood when was the right time to be in awe.

This was one of those times.

Aether glowed . They burned through the sky and shined like a star.

He’s never been in the presence of a God, but this felt like it. This was a holy light, something that should only inhabit Celestia.

He was starting to understand why Kaeya said Aether couldn’t be considered a child.

The sky flashed white and Dvalin whisked the five of them into the sky. He was terrified for his life. 

He gripped Dvalin’s feathers to keep his life. The ground was so far below and he couldn’t see it. There was only sky and clouds as far as his could see.

Dvalin had a deep voice, it echoed within his skull. Resonating within his mind.

“ Are you a god ?”

Aether shook their head, continuing to stroke the dragon’s scales. Anything underneath their palms continued to shine white.

“ Whatever you are, your power is returning. Albeit slowly. I feel it .”

Aether did not move, although a look of surprise painted their face white.

“ Maybe, soon, you’ll be able to fly with us .”

That, got a reaction out of Aether.

If Diluc looked closely, he could see the flickering image of wings appearing on Aether’s back.

“Thank you ,” the dragon croaked.

The sky dimmed and soon, Dvalin gently set them down. His claws not even piercing through his fabric.

Dvalin said one more thing that he did not catch. He was so happy to be on the ground again. The grass felt so nice after being whisked into the sky without any warning.

He wasn’t afraid of heights, but he’s to see the ground below him at all times. Being on the back of Dvalin, was terrifying because he couldn’t see the ground.

Venti gripped the Lyre, seeing how it was accidentally broken when Aether dragged him onto the back o Dvalin and, purified ( ? ) him.

The had a discussion away from the ears of Diluc and Jean. He didn’t know what they were talking about, and frankly he didn’t care.

He was more than willing to wait to have a word with the Anemo Archon, but decided to be civil and real himself in while around Jean.

“ Grand Master Jean, we’re going to need you to escort us into the cathedral. The Abyss Mage broke the Lyre, and we need to have an Alibi as to why we stole it .”

Jean nodded, more than willing to escort them to the cathedral.

Aether stared at Diluc with a neutral expression, if he looked deep enough into Aether’s eyes, he could see a little irritation.

what did i ever do to you?

Aether signed something for Paimon to translate, “ Aether says, ‘ Thank you for your time Master Diluc. You may go home .’”

Diluc had so many questions for both Barbatos and Aether. He wanted answers. He wanted to know why they did the things they did. Why everything was happening.

what was aether? why were they here? what did they want? were they here to cause harm? were they here to harm Mondstadt?

He tightened his grip on his claymore, not yet willing to sheathe it.

He had so many questions for Barbatos. So many things he wanted answered. So many things he never prayed to be fixed. His small hatred of the Anemo Archon never dying.

He strapped his claymore to his back, it dissipating into golden sparks.

He reached out for Venti’s arm. A grip that would normally cause a man’s bones to creak and bend, but for the Archon, his body was as hard as a rock.

Diluc did no damage to the deadbeat Archon of Mondstadt.

“ Why ?”

…

“ Master Diluc, if you have something you want to say to me, you will have to wait until later. I have something to return .”

He yanked his arm away from Diluc’s hand, eyes full of nothing but disinterest and apathy.

He flinched, those eyes were familiar.

those were the same eyes he gave kaeya that night.

( you’re a filthy hypocrite diluc ).

With Aether, Venti, Jean, and Paimon gone, it left him alone with his thoughts. Alone to think about what he’s done. To think about his greatest mistakes.

( do you feel regret )?

( you should ).

( you need to face your own consequences one day, or else it won’t just be you who pays the price ).

✰ ⭒ ☽ ◯ ☾ ⭒ ✰

Grandmaster Jean had a sister. Her name was Barbara and she was a nun of the Church of Barbados. 

She was also, not happy, to see the Holy Lyre be in pieces. 

She claimed, she could repent all her life and never be forgiven for her sins. Which was odd, since Venti did not care if anyone in Mondstadt sinned or not. People had freedoms and since he was the weakest, most absent Archon, he had no right to judge people based on the mistakes they make.

That would be hypocritical. Venti contradicted himself sure, but he was never truly hypocritical. 

To save Barbara from her tears, he casted a bit of illusion magic, knowing it wouldn’t be permanent, he suggested that everyone run away at high speeds.

They did, Jean left the Cathedral, leaving Venti, Aether and Paimon alone at the front of the steps.

Jean claimed, “ She didn’t want to bare the brunt of her sister’s ire when she found out the Lyre was just a cop out .” Which was fair. Tinier people tended to have a higher storage of anger in their bodies. 

Plus Jean had to take care of some things as the Acting Grandmaster. She had put them off in order to help the weird, rag-tag, group of four to save Dvalin.

Venti was happy to get out of the church ready to finally be free from the corruption of Durin, from all the shit that’s happened lately. 

There was an icy chill and Aether was blown away, Paimon stuck in a chunk of ice. He summoned a wall of Anemo to block the ice.

He heard Aether cry out in pain, turning to see two Fatui agents holding them back by their arms, forcing them onto their knees. Their shoulder blades jutting out from how tightly they were being held.

Venti went to go and help their friend, but found his feet was stuck to the concrete. They were coated with thick layers of ice. 

fuck. . .

“ So this is Mondstadt’s rodent ruler in the flesh .”

gods damn it.

this wasn’t supposed to happen now.

“ Signora. Why are you in Mondstadt? This is not you’re country .”

La Signora laughed, grabbing Venti by his face and jerking him around.

“ How pathetic. Is this what Mondstadt is trying to protect ?”

There is a whine coming from behind and then a loud cry.

Venti turned to find Paimon collapsed on the ground and Aether struggling and digging their heels into the stone. One of the Pyro agents was trying to press something into their mouth and Aether was biting at them.

The other one smacked them across the face and Venti saw red.

Anemo energy started to swirl around him, with the intent to to hurt any who dare lay a hand on Aether. 

The winds thrashed and flagellated, reaching out like cruel whips. They wanted to cut and slice anyone and anything who dared to harm his friend, who dared to harm the one person who understood .

His winds were escaping and crawling out of his being, spreading and releasing from the inside of his Gnosis. His intent to destroy crawling over his skin like centipedes, their little legs sending malicious goosebumps across his skin.

The ice around his legs started to decay and fly away.

you won’t harm my friend.

not again. . .

“ This is what Mondstadt calls a god ?”

Venti called upon the power of this Gnosis, his winds growing more and more violent. He felt his power grow and grow, reveling the power of the Anemo Archon.

And then, he felt empty. 

A pain in his chest flared and exploded. His power left him, and he collapsed. There was no Anemo surrounding him, we was empty and it was terrifying.

The winds were quiet, and he felt nothing.

Signora held him by his Gnosis, her grip being the only thing keeping him upright.

“ You should have stayed quiet .”

She pulled out his heart, and Venti collapsed on the stones of the cathedral. She kicked him for good measure, bruising his already empty chest.

Venti tried to get up, but his body was too weak. He coughed up blood, ribs broken from the harshness of his heart being taken from him.

A voice he did not recognize screamed out his name, worry heavy in their breath.

“ VENTI !”

Venti looked up, seeing that the voice came from Aether.

aether. . .

Aether. . .

AETHER!

“ Take the Outlander and make sure they’re quiet. I do not want to be disturbed while we take them to the Tsaritsa .”

One of the Pyro agents hit Aether on the side of the head and they stopped struggling.

Aether looked Venti in the eyes, a small stream of tears escaping their eyes. Blinking lazily, showing they were fighting away unconsciousness.

“ Venti. . .”

“ What did I say?! I want them quiet !”

The Pyro agent hit them again, harder, and they went limp.

aether. . .

don’t take aether. . .

As Venti’s vision faded, he used the last of his consciousness to heal Aether’s head and pull Paimon to his chest, not wanting them to have a concussion and not wanting Paimon to wake up alone.

living as a god is a cursed existence.

( you watch as everyone you ever cared about is taken away from you ).

Venti's last thought before blacking out was:

the first word aether ever said, and it was my name. . .

“ Like the wind, we'd be wild and free.

You said you'd follow me anywhere. . .

but your eyes tell me you won't be there . ”

Chapter Text

Aether gave Signora a really hard time.

Every other time she saw them, their cage would be empty. The times she did see them in the cage, they would be thrashing and screaming. Kicking at the top of their confinement, or the side, almost causing the cage to break or fall off the end of the carriage.

There would be so many times Signora would hear the tell-tale sign of wood breaking, a crash, and then running.

It was around the fifth time, she stopped putting the Traveler in a cage all together. The ropes around their hands and feet were clearly not working, no matter how thick or uncomfortable they were. 

Aether always managed to wriggle their way out, or cut the rope away.

So instead, Signora had Aether placed within her own carriage. Forced to sit directly across from her.

Aether was not happy about the new arrangement. They struggled and thrashed, somehow managing to dodge all the blows to the head.

They presented the rebellious Aether, on their knees in front of Signora. Restrained by several Fatui agents and pulled by their hair to make perfect eye contact with Signora.