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Once upon a time in a distant land, a beloved queen fell gravely ill as she was with child, driving the king to desperately search near and far for a cure. He sought out the aging enchantress Baal who was known to be obsessed with the pursuit of eternity for help. Baal agreed to a contract to allow the queen to drink her celestial stardust potion in exchange for the child who would be born. The king eagerly agreed fully intending to betray his contract with the enchantress and keep his family safe.
After taking the divine potion, the queen made a full recovery and gave birth to the beautiful prince Aether whose golden hair shined like the sun. Baal fully anticipated the king’s betrayal and stole the child in the night leaving hardly a trace behind for them to be followed.
Far far away she fled until they reached a quiet clearing deep within a sleepy forest where she laid the infant on a bed of rapunzel that grew abundantly in the area. To further protect her prize, she enchanted the surrounding trees to thicken and lead strangers astray in order to keep unwanted visitors out of their haven.
Much to the enchantress’ delight, her potion experiment had been a success. The prince’s flesh and hair was endowed with the celestial energy of the stars, reversing Baal’s wrinkled flesh back to her youthful self. However Baal soon discovered that the magic did not last. Sensing that she was ever closer to her dream goal for eternity, she erected a tower to lock the prince away until she could perfect his powers to grant her eternal youth.
Years passed and life of being hidden away from the world allowed Aether’s beauty and purity to thrive while his hair grew longer and longer. As he aged, Baal grew more fearful he might try to flee so she had the tower grow taller and taller until she needed Aether’s luxuriously long hair to climb up for her visits. She filled Aether’s mind with stories about how cruel and evil the world beyond was and that she would keep him safe within the tower.
The prince’s powers grew stronger as he came of age, attracting fairy like crystalflies to silently find their way into the clearing. While the ethereal creatures alarmed Baal at how they found their way in, she took it as a sign that soon Aether would wield the power to grant her her wish. She just needed to wait a little longer and surely eternity was within reach. Her visits became less frequent as Aether’s talents allowed for her to stay away for extended periods of time without losing their effect.
It was during Baal’s absence that a stranger became lost within the enchanted forest. Prince Xiao of Liyue was hopelessly trapped within the magical woods after being separated from his guards during a boar hunting trip. No matter where he turned the forest only seemed to grow darker and more dangerous. Time lost its meaning. His body began withering away as there was no food or water to be found. Within the darkness, just as he was about to give up all hope of seeing the light of day again, the glow of a solitary crystalfly guided him safely into the sunlit clearing where Prince Aether’s tower stood.
Unable to find a way up the tower, Xiao sat in the grass amongst the fluttering glowing butterflies completely mystified as to where he may be. A soft gentle voice made his heart skip a beat as it floated down from the top of the tower, humming a melody he had never heard before. Just as he was about to call up to the owner of the voice, Prince Xiao heard someone enter the clearing. With the little energy he had, he barely managed to hide himself amongst the tall grass and rapunzel leaves just in time to stay out of sight.
Immediately he recognized the infamously beautiful yet dangerous sorceress Baal as she crossed the clearing to the foot of the tower to call out “Rapunzel Rapunzel, let down your golden hair!” Braided shimmering hair that was as bright as sunshine spilled down the side of the tower allowing Baal to ascend up and disappear into the only window of the tall structure.
Realizing that he had stumbled upon the enchantress’ secret, he considered himself fortunate to have survived to witness this bizarre ritual. Who knew how many never made it out of the bewitched woods in order to protect whatever it was up in that tower. But his body was too weakened to properly put up a fight so he laid still and quiet until he heard Baal depart.
Once there was undoubtedly no sign of anyone else in the clearing, Xiao mustered up his remaining strength to stand at the foot of the tower. With a hoarse voice, he called “Rapunzel Rapunzel, let down your golden hair!”
Long seconds passed and Xiao fell to his knees as there was no response from this mysterious Rapunzel. He was nearly ready to collapse to the ground when golden hair suddenly plunged down from the tower window to where Xiao kneeled. Clutching onto the soft silken strands of hair, the Prince of Liyue began the maddening peculiar climb to meet whoever it was the hair belonged to. Strangely, with every touch of the shimmering hair, Xiao felt revitalized and his weariness faded the higher he climbed.
As he inched closer to the window of the tower, his heart began pounding faster until Prince Xiao locked eyes with the fair golden prince Aether rendering him speechless as he fell hopelessly in love with this beautiful creature. Prince Aether, who had never seen a man before, grew increasingly alarmed and as soon as Xiao released his hair and stepped into the tower, the golden haired prince drew a sword with trembling hands to defend himself.
Xiao calmly raised his hands in the air as a gesture that he meant no harm. Bewildered that he felt as good as new, he addressed the mysterious beauty with as much gentleness and softness as he could.
“My noble Rapunzel, I am simply a man who has been lost in the woods. I come in peace and seek shelter here.”
“My name is Aether. And if you are one of those cruel creatures Baal warned me of, you are not welcome here.”
“Aether, a truly charming name for one as beautiful as the sun. I am honored to meet you. My name is Xiao. I realize my intrusion is abrupt and will depart after a moment’s rest.”
Golden head now tilted curiously to the side as honey colored eyes studied his guest from head to toe.
“You said you’re a…man?”
“Yes I am.” Xiao replied wondering now if Baal was the only other being Aether had ever seen. “My body is like yours.”
Aether lowered his sword and cautiously approached Xiao until he was within arms reach to rest a hand on the teal haired man’s chest.
“They are flat like mine.”
“Yes, yes they are.”
“Does that mean…you also have…” Aether started saying as his hand glided lower down Xiao’s torso.
Almost as a reflex, Xiao caught the blonde’s hand before it could reach his intimate parts. The sudden movement made Aether jump at the contact making him nearly trip on his own hair. Xiao’s arm snaked around the prince’s waist, pressing their bodies together to steady him.
Through the cloth of his pants, the teal haired prince could feel a hard member press against his thigh.
“Yes…um…we both have…that.” Xiao whispered as his heart pounded with an overwhelming rush of emotion from holding Aether so close to him. He could feel his body also responding, the heat growing in his groin to unmistakably press back against the blonde’s stiffness.
Shyly both princes backed away from one another while blushing furiously. Xiao was not about to take advantage of this innocence and opted instead to take a seat by the fireplace in the room. Aether settled down beside him and they began talking.
The pair exchanged countless stories. Aether recited what he knew of the world from Baal and Xiao shared stories of the wonders in the world he’d seen, life within the palace, his loving family and tales of people’s hopes and dreams. When asked what Aether’s own dreams were, the prince realized that he did not know.
With each passing moment, their feelings for one another grew ever stronger and Aether began glowing brighter as their bond blossomed into love. Aether had learned more about the world beyond what Baal had ever told him of and it made him grow eager to travel and explore the truth for himself. Xiao asked Aether to come away with him to his kingdom so that he could prove that the world was a truly wonderful place.
Frantically, a familiar yet frenzied voice could be heard. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair!” A brightly glowing Aether bounded up excitedly to lower his hair to Baal and anxious to introduce Xiao to her only to watch in horror as she swiftly leapt into the room and pounced on Xiao in blind rage for trespassing into the tower. In their scuffle, Baal’s powers overwhelmed Xiao, mortally wounding him. Triumphantly the enchantress now stood between the princes as she addressed Aether who wept in distress as he helplessly watched Xiao bleeding from his injuries. All of the light that had surrounded his golden form had faded.
“He is what I’ve warned you about. He is part of the danger who would take you away from the safety of your home. I must take you far from here now to find a new safe place for us. You have broken my trust.” Baal spoke icily as she glared at the tear stained blonde.
“Let me heal him. Please let me save him. Then I will go with you. I promise to be good and follow wherever you wish to go.” Aether pleaded between sobs.
“No Aether…just run.” Xiao croaked out as his voice weakened.
“Very well. I will let you heal him but…” Baal waved her hands to materialize chains that snaked around Xiao’s hands and feet, tethering the end of the links to the wall. “I’ll only release these chains once we’ve made it to our new home.”
“You have my word.” Aether replied, his voice quivering with fear and defeat.
Baal wordlessly stepped aside and the tear stained blonde scrambled to Xiao’s side. Gently, Aether cradled his prince into his arms, mustering every bit of energy that he could to heal him. However, it felt as if celestial powers had abandoned the golden haired prince leading him further into despair.
“No…why isn’t it working?” Aether cried desperately holding Xiao tighter.
“A-aether… It’s ok. If I die here, then you’d be free to leave her.”
“I can’t let you die!”
“If she takes you then I am still lost. I would never be able to forgive myself for failing to protect you.”
“Xiao…”
“Live and find your dream.”
“What if you’re my dream…to be with you. To stay by your side.”
Baal watched impatiently and was nearly about to disrupt the pair when she noticed a glow emanating from Aether’s body that was intensifying. He was glowing brighter than she had ever seen and could only stare silently in awe.
“Aether…” Xiao whispered as he weakly raised his hand to cup the prince’s cheek and guide his lips to touch his own, closing his eyes as they locked into a tender kiss.
Blinding light filled the room and Baal attempted to shield herself but the celestial energy penetrated deep into her soul laying every truth about her bare and shattering the frozen heart that had been steeled over from her relentless obsession for eternity. What had she done? It was as if the light revealed her every shame for judgment yet forgave her at the same time. Trounced by her own distraught emotions from being unable to handle the truth of her faults, the enchantress opened a floating doorway to retreat into another dimension, never to be seen or heard from again.
Enraptured in their blissful kiss, the lovers hardly noticed as the chains and tower faded away, lowering them gently onto the grassy floor of the clearing. When Xiao opened his eyes, all he could see was his golden shining beloved smiling down at him with a tear stained face. Crystalflies delicately floated around the pair resting gently on Aether’s blonde locks, framed by a beautiful starry night sky. It was breathtaking.
“You’re healed!” Aether exclaimed as he patted around Xiao’s body looking for any remaining open wounds.
“Yes and it appears, we are free.” Xiao said as he caught Aether’s hand and gently kissed it.
“What? But Baal…” The wide eyed prince zipped his head around completely bewildered that his home and the only other person he ever knew were nowhere in sight.
Xiao rose up to his feet and offered his hand to Aether. “Will you come with me? Do you still wish to stay by my side?”
Aether smiled as he took Xiao’s open hand and was helped to his feet. “Yes…I do.”
After spending some time wrangling Aether’s luxuriously long braided hair into a more manageable shorter braid, Xiao adorned his hair with flowers from around the clearing. Hand in hand the princes walked out of the clearing with the crystalflies never too far behind. Even the enchanted forest had been dispelled, leaving the pathway wide open to travel unhindered.
They journeyed to Xiao’s kingdom where they were jubilantly welcomed and eventually wed. In honor of the crystalflies that often floated around Aether, lanterns were lit and released into the night sky on the day of their wedding which turned into an annual tradition for their anniversary. With time, Aether was reunited with his long lost family and his home kingdom also joined in the tradition to light lanterns on the same day.
Together they ruled the two kingdoms and the realm entered a golden era of peace and prosperity prolonged by the blessing of long life bestowed upon them from Aether’s celestial gift.