Chapter Text
"...are you leaving?"
The words came out as more of a whisper to himself, barely loud enough for the golden-haired young man to catch.
"She's waiting for me," his voice trembled by the slightest, the rapidly decreasing temperature masking what feelings he so desperately held back.
"We both knew this day would come," Yet it still seems like none of us were prepared.
He kept that last string of thoughts to himself, afraid of reigniting what false hope he had already made the mistake of gifting the poor boy with the day they first met.
"...I-"
If it weren't for the voices of the incoming snow storm muddying his hearing, he wouldn't have missed that last bit.
♢♢♢
Then his vision turned to white.
Aether woke up that day feeling like shit- as per usual. The massive, radiating ball of flame we come to know as the sun shining its residuals straight through the unfiltered windows and on to his untrained eyes.
Clenching his eyelids shut to prevent further potential charring, he rolled out of bed with a dull, loud thud against the hard carpeted floor of his bedroom.
"You good?" Standing in the doorway of Aether's room is a face quite similar to his. If he isn't used to seeing his own face each and every day in his young life, his half asleep brain would have definitely registered the person as a doppelgänger of some sort.
"I- huh? Oh, Lumine. Yeah, I'm feeling fantastic, thanks." A bit of an overstatement, if he were to be completely honest. Aether groaned as he stood up and straightened himself, pressing his palm against his lower back causing his spine to crack with a dull sensation of pain before disappearing altogether.
"Alright. Meet me downstairs once you're done setting your back straight. I made you some coffee." With that, Lumine vanished into the hallway and down the stairs.
On his way to the kitchen to fetch himself a simple breakfast made up of plain toast and the coffee his sister had prepared for him, Aether ripped open a small packet of sunflower seeds and haphazardly poured all of its contents into the large, blue cage where the living breathing snowball Aether and Lumine claim to be their pet hamster lives in luxury, without a care for humans' mundane worldly affairs.
"There you go, Paimon. Enough to last an entire day." The small rodent crawled out of its hiding place to take hold of a seed before nibbling- wait, nibbling? More like absorbing each seed like air in a span of something-something milliseconds.
"Entire day?" Lumine scoffs. "what're you planning to do that'll keep you occupied for an entire day?" As if she just went through a moment of realization, she paused and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not going to try and find another person who'll help you with your little treasure hunt, right?"
It's safe to say that Lumine's used to seeing this same conversation play out over and over again and sure enough, that's exactly what Aether's planning on doing. "Come on! I'm really feeling it today. I'm telling you, today's the day I'll find someone who can help me. Besides, this isn't just some kid's treasure hunting game. If I don't at least know whether this place exists or not, I think that by the time I turn 21 I'd already be on my way to a psych ward."
"Researchers can go decades without finding the answer to their inquiries, and you're already halfway to a meltdown because of a dream you've been having since last month," Lumine rolls her eyes at her brother's dramatic play at what he seems to describe as his so called conundrum taking a toll on his mental health the longer it goes on. "I was about to once again tell you to just let it go, but at this point I know better than to even try, so good luck with that. Though I still doubt you can find a person in the entirety of Mondstadt who's insane enough to agree to your request."
Ignoring her words, Aether bid his sister goodbye for the day and head out to continue his ongoing grand quest to search for someone who will and can help him with his ludicrous request.
♢♢♢
"I don't know what to tell ya, kid. Even if we wanted to, a commission this outrageous is out of the guild's expertise." Even the adventurers' guild leader, Cyrus, deemed Aether's request an impossible one.
Aether sighed in defeat, another day, another failed attempt. He briefly wonders if a million mora's payment can get himself someone who'd work with him. But alas, a million mora isn't an easy amount to get your hands on. Looking at Aether's dejected state, Cyrus took pity on the guy then took a moment to think of other ways he could help and seemed to have come up with an idea mere seconds later, judging by how his expression immediately changed as if an imaginary light bulb had just popped up above his head. He will redirect Aether to a private investigator the guild has had the... pleasure of working with a couple times in the past. At first, he was unsure of recommending him out of everyone in the guild's wide web of connections, but figured that if anyone's capable of granting Aether's wish, it had to be him.
"Hey kid," Aether looked up to meet Cyrus' eyes, a faint glimmer of hope bubbling in his chest. "We uh, know someone who might be able to help you."
And that was it. Those few words was all it took to piece together Aether's hopes and dreams that had been seemingly crushed mere moments ago.
"What- huh? Really? Who is it?" Aether was practically holding on to both sides of Cyrus' shoulders in what one would describe as a death grip. To him, the excitement is simply too difficult to contain- he couldn't believe it, after seeking help from different teachers, detectives, historians, even Miss Lisa the local librarian for what felt like years (when really, it had only been a little over a month), he finally received a inkling about someone who's potentially willing to help him end his long-lasting conundrum.
Cyrus cleared his throat and begin explaining the details to a now visibly beaming Aether. "I guess you could say he's some form of private investigator. Specialized in uncovering and decoding the secrets of hidden artifacts, domains, and historical sites within the vast land of teyvat." Seeing Aether take mental notes to remind himself of every detail necessary to find this person, Cyrus takes it as a sign of interest, and clears his throat before continuing his talk.
"I-I just thought that if anyone can help you with this problem you're going through, he's the one. If you're interested, you can find him at this address, right here near the outskirts of Mondstadt City." Cyrus pulled out an old fashioned foldable paper map of the city and pointed at a small street nestled in between relatively quiet neighborhoods, away from the commotion of the city's central. Aether wonders for a brief moment how someone in this day and age would still use them over digital maps. Seems like the adventurers' guild is more rooted in their traditions than he initially expected.
He thanked Cyrus for the pointers and navigated to the location shown to him earlier via his phone's navigation app and bolted away, not before almost tripping on his own foot.
Meanwhile Jack, a young member of the adventurers' guild who had been present throughout the conversation joined Cyrus in his walk back to the guild headquarters and said in a low voice, "Cyrus, a-are you sure you want to redirect him to that guy out of everyone we could have offered?"
Cyrus hummed in contemplation at Jack's words, before replying, "he might be a bit of an oddball, but if anyone's insane enough to want to agree to his request, he has to be the one."
♢♢♢
Aether arrived at a narrow alleyway located near the great stone walls encasing Mondstadt City, almost completely devoid of life save for a couple street cats having the time of their nine lives exchanging body heat.
It seems that the very place Aether was led to is a small, three-story building squeezed in between creaky wooden houses that looked so old it's as if time moves on for the rest of the world, leaving this specific neighborhood as an exception.
Aether gave the aging front door a couple gentle knocks, as if anything other than a feather-light touch can cause the entire building to crumble before his very eyes.
A solid minute passed without an answer. Disappointed with his hopes crushed all over again, Aether was about to accept the fact that today might not be the day after all. Or maybe Lumine was right. Maybe he is overreacting. Maybe a dream was simply that, a dream. And that maybe that boy from his dreams doesn't even exi-
A sound was heard from the other side of the door. Aether stopped in his tracks, the faint echo of a dozen dull thuds breaking him out of his trance.
"J-just a second!"
A slightly muffled female voice. Aether hears the lock of a door click open and as he turns around, his sights are greeted by a bespectacled young woman, looking disheveled and out of breath.
"P-please," she pauses to catch her breath, "come in."
Aether took a few awkward steps in, giving the girl holding the door open for him a small nod in appreciation. The inside of the building looked like a house turned makeshift office, with a plethora of both personal items and work tools scattered about. It is not a complete mess per se, enough for one or two people to make their way through without knocking over some objects, but the problem lies with the fact that there is simply so much... stuff. Gadgets, gizmos, tools that looked like it hadn't been touched since archon knows when, dying succulents and unfamiliar thingamajigs strewn all over the small living space. A perfect example of an organized mess.
The girl disappeared up the narrow staircase, not before beckoning Aether to follow suit. On his way over, Aether passed by an old wooden bookshelf that threatened to collapse on him the longer it took for him to reach the end of the hallway. He could have sworn some sort of magical force must be the only thing keeping it together with how simply aged it looked. Just what kind of person did Cyrus redirect him to?
The girl led him to the front of what seemed to be a door leading to an office of sorts located on the second floor of the building. "I assume you're here for Mr. Albedo. If that's the case, he's right inside."
He nodded once again and mouthed her a 'thank you' before pushing the door open, revealing a room even more packed with belongings in comparison to the rest of the floor. More unidentified tools, more overgrown or straight up dead potted plants and of course, more creaky old bookshelves framing the sides of the room. A wooden desk with entire jars of candies, messy stacks of paper, and different colored writing tools on top of it is spotted at the very center of the office, alongside a black swivel chair that spun around to face Aether at the opening and closing sound of a door.
Sitting on the swivel chair with his legs crossed is a man about Aether's age, a messy mop of ash blond hair tied in a high ponytail, a pair of bright but dazed teal eyes locked on to the page of the sketchbook he held in his hands, lazily doodling on it before casting it aside in favor of his new guest.
The man looked up and met Aether's eyes, before asking him to take a seat so that they may face each other properly. He then spoke first, breaking the almost half minute worth of silence.
"Good afternoon. I am Albedo, private investigator. How may I be of service to you today?"
Aether gulped nervously, despite his politeness he can feel the man's bright teal eyes drill a hole into his skull, picking him apart piece by piece, analyzing him.
"W-well," for someone who's said the same words over and over again for the past month while looking for a person who'll take up his request, now that he's finally found that person Aether isn't completely sure how to start explaining. "I'm looking for something."
Albedo's gaze remained unmoving, devoid of any emotion or any semblance of a reaction towards Aether's request.
He now resorted to playing with the pencil he'd previously used to sketch, absentmindedly twirling it in between his slender digits. After an excruciating seventeen seconds of silence, Albedo finally spoke again.
"What is it that you're looking for, if I may ask?"
Aether tensed, bracing himself for the incoming rejection.
"A place I've been seeing in my dreams."
Silence once more. Albedo has stopped toying with his pencil and is making eye contact with Aether, his previously dull eyes now sparkling with the tiniest hint of curiosity.
Noticing how he had managed to successfully garner the other man's interest, Aether took it as a chance to explain his situation in detail.
"Since a month ago, I've been having recurring dreams," Aether glanced at Albedo, who is now listening intently to what he has to say. "They always feature a boy, often referred to as 'the prince' and would always take place in a large, empty building I assume is his palace."
Albedo is now taking notes, adding a few sketches of whatever Aether had just explained to him on the sides.
"I couldn't remember what the prince's face looked like, but one thing about him that stood out is his long, dusty white hair. And as for the palace, I remember how it was situated on the side of a lush, green mountain."
At the end of Aether's explanation, Albedo stopped with whatever he was doing before and placed his pencil and book down on the pile of papers sitting atop his desk.
"So the reason you came to me is,"
Aether pursed his lips "I want you to help me find where the prince's palace is located. Or whether it actually exists or not." He finished Albedo's sentence, embers of determination in his golden eyes.
There was another silence that followed, with Albedo tidying up his desk, closing his sketchbooks and storing them away alongside the pencil he held on to earlier.
"Fifty thousand mora."
Aether blinked in surprise, both at the sheer price and the fact that Albedo actually accepted his request to begin with. Fifty thousand mora isn't a small amount, and it's completely reasonable to ask for that many in exchange for helping him with his completely unreasonable commission. Though it still doesn't change the fact that the money Aether earned doing odd jobs isn't going to be sufficient. Especially not with how slow it has been for him these past few weeks. So he resorted to the classic act of bargaining.
"Six thousand."
"Forty thousand."
"Twelve thousand."
"Thirty."
"Twenty?"
"Make that twenty-five. You know, I might be the only person insane enough to even consider taking on this case."
And he's correct, also that's exactly what Lumine said. "Okay fine, twenty-five thousand mora if you can at the very least help me get some form of closure."
Standing up from the swivel chair with his arm outstretched for Aether to shake it, it seemed like Albedo had finally agreed to lend a hand in this bare-bones, month-long case.
"Then we have a deal."