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Strong ocean winds blew across the open sea, driving it into swaying, pulling waves that crashed into the shore, filling the air with fine mist and the smell of salt.
The sky was a deep indigo, shining with a brilliant many stars and dappled with soft, broken up cloud cover.
As it was, the night was still young, and the sun had just dipped below the horizon, taking the last of its warm hues with it and leaving behind a cold, impossibly deep blanket of star-speckled midnight blue.
Moonlight glinted off the cool waves and sparkled against rocks damp with sea spray. In the distance, islands sat upon the horizon, scarcely visible through the mist and haze. The sounds of the seabird’s cries had finally faded into the quiet depths of the night just shortly before.
It was chilly— probably too chilly to be going for a walk on the beach, which was exactly what Aether was doing.
The breeze carried spindrift and a deep-setting ocean frigidity with it, spiralling around him on Inazuma City’s southern beach. His skin was damp with ocean mist, which made the cold’s sting all the more bitter.
That was why he was shivering, he told himself. That was where the goosebumps were coming from.
It was only half a lie. It was very cold out.
He was pacing along the long, flat stones that lined the shore of the beach. The sounds of the city echoing down the steep cliff behind him were finally tapering off for the night, and sakura petals drifted down from their trees and dusted the sand around him.
The walk was supposed to clear Aether’s head, but if anything, it had just gotten him more lost in it.
Soon.
Archons, it really was soon, wasn’t it?
Only a week. No way it was really only a week away. Surely it was longer than that.
A week. That didn’t feel right.
There was only a week left before he and Paimon set off for Sumeru. The date of their departure had been planned well in advance, but the days had been creeping forwards much, much too fast. Aether could barely keep up.
The more his mind wandered, the more a cold, sickening sensation began to tighten around his chest, and he immediately shut his eyes and shook his head vehemently, trying to beat back the flames as best he could.
Still, the feeling crept under his skin, like an excess of energy that he couldn’t be rid of. Every time he thought about what was to come, it wrapped back around him like a chokehold, and every time he tried not to think about it, it flared back up with a vengeance and dug it’s thorns in even deeper than before.
As the days had gone by, nothing got better— if anything, the feeling became significantly worse. It haunted him more and more frequently, undercutting his every thought and slowly shaping into a constant, dull ache in the back of his mind.
Aether had found himself keeping his distance from others, pulling back to avoid giving an explanation for his disheveled appearance and distracted behaviour.
He was growing increasingly absent, and he knew it. He’d barely spoken to anyone in the last week, but even though he wanted to, he was terrified that someone would take notice of his less-than-par state.
So he steered clear of anyone.
That was why he was on the beach.
No, he was on the beach to clear his head. To distract himself. Archons, this wasn’t working.
He was pacing faster now. So much for taking a breather; the only thing he’d managed to do was wind himself up further.
Aether shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath, stamping out the flare-up of dizzying anxiety and forcing himself to slow down. It was fine. He had a whole week! That wasn’t that short!
And when that week was over…
Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Not important. He’d cross that bridge when he got to it.
In a week.
Only a week.
Slow down. He shook his head sharply and kept pacing, trying to focus on his footsteps instead of his worries.
A week. Just a week.
Not important. A whole week. Why couldn’t he just think of anything else for once?
“Well, if it isn’t the Traveler!” A voice cut through his thoughts. “Man alive— can’t say I expected to see you here!”
Aether turned around, quickly batting away his tense expression, and was startled to see Heizou strolling down the beach, lifting his hand in a casual wave.
“Oh. Hey, Heizou,” Aether said, waving back. “Wasn’t expecting you either.”
Heizou, of all people. It wasn’t like Aether disliked him— far from it. He loved his company. If it had been a normal day, Aether would have been overjoyed to talk with him. But as it was, with Heizou… that man could read anyone like a book.
That was not something Aether wanted to run into today.
“Pleased to see me, I can tell,” Heizou said with a wry smile, but his tone was teasing and unhurt.
Still, his quick once-over and his impossibly sharp eyes made Aether feel very, very transparent.
He swore Heizou was already looking at him with furrowed brows and concern in his expression. He hoped he was imagining it.
“You startled me, is all,” Aether said, tugging on his scarf with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t notice you coming.”
“Ah, my bad,” Heizou said, shaking his head. “Didn’t mean to catch you off guard. What are you doing out here so late? You good?”
“Yeah, fine. Just on a walk…” Aether said. He spoke as casually as he could, but he knew hiding something from the Shikanoin Heizou was far from his area of expertise. “I could ask the same of you, though.”
Heizou’s eyes glinted. “Well, I may have stayed up a little too late working on a case,” he ceded with a grin. “Took a walk to try to get rid of the headache before I head home.”
“Ah,” Aether said. “I was just out because of the nice weather.”
“You’re shivering,” Heizou noted.
“Well— it was nicer out earlier,” Aether said, rubbing the back of his neck. “When I got here.”
“I’ll just have to take your word for it,” Heizou mused. “How long have you been out here for?”
“Don’t know offhand,” he admitted. “I lost track of time.”
Nothing Heizou said was inherently accusatory, but his piercing gaze and knowing look suggested that he might be gleaning a bit more information from this conversation than the answers Aether was giving. Although the interaction was friendly, he couldn’t help but feel like a criminal in an interrogation.
Faintly, he decided that he understood his friends who were still a little apprehensive of Heizou.
“I couldn’t help but notice,” Heizou said, peering around the beach, “a distinct lack of the little Voice that happens to follow you around. Or, what was it she said…” He glanced back over with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Emergency food?”
Aether laughed a bit at that. “Paimon’s sleeping,” he explained. “She’s still in the teapot.”
Heizou nodded. “I think most people are asleep at this hour,” he laughed. “Really, I should be too. Lucky coincidence that we met here, though,” he added. “I haven’t seen you around in a while.”
“Mhm,” Aether agreed. “It was nice to catch up.”
He tried not to be too relieved. It felt mean, but really he was just glad to be released from such a scrutinizing gaze.
“And, Aether—“ Heizou said. Aether looked back over at him apprehensively.
“You should try to get some rest soon, too.” Heizou’s voice was light, but his brows were furrowed with clear concern. “You look like you could use it.”
“I— what— what’s that supposed to mean?” Aether said defensively.
“It means that you really look as though you’ve been put through the wringer,” Heizou said, shaking his head. He held up his hands placatingly. “I can’t claim to know what you’ve got going on, truly, but… take care of yourself, alright? You can hide this stuff from a lot of people, but you definitely can’t hide it from me.”
“It’s—…” Aether managed a small laugh. “It’s just been a bad day. I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”
Heizou raised an eyebrow at him.
“Alright,” he said, but Aether couldn’t tell if he actually believed it or not. “Goodnight, Aether. Be seeing you.”
“Night, Heizou.”
With a wave, he walked back along the path he’d arrived from and was gone.
Aether stood silently on the beach for a few minutes, watching the waves.
Eventually, he carefully removed the teapot from his bag. Heizou was probably right.
It was late anyways. He didn’t really have a reason to ignore Heizou’s advice.
Heizou, by all means, definitely considered himself justified in his worries about Aether. Ever since he’d bumped into him that night on the beach, obviously, but even before that he’d had his concerns.
The maple leaves that littered the stone roads rustled slightly underfoot, drifting down from the beautifully adorned crowns of the trees lining the streets and spiralling through the air like a dance before settling inconspicuously into one of the many growing banks that were piling up against the buildings and storefronts.
People chatted here and there in peacefully shaded corners, and merchants called from their shops, proudly advertising their wares; the sun was high in the sky, and shining down brightly on passerby as they shopped for their groceries or peddled their wares.
Heizou was strolling through the streets of Ritou on what Kujou Sara would likely wring his neck for describing as his “break”.
He didn’t care too greatly about that, though. He’d finished everything he needed to earlier than expected today, he just hadn’t officially mentioned it to anyone (like Kujou Sara) because he didn’t want to be assigned more busywork for no good reason.
Besides, his mind was on a tougher case to crack… or, he supposed, more of a puzzle that held personal value to him.
Since they’d met, Aether had spoken with him frequently, and enthusiastically at that. Heizou had quickly grown to consider him quite the good friend.
They’d talked just about every time they’d run into each other, unless one of them was too busy- and even then, Aether was happy to lend a hand with things Heizou was doing when he could.
And then, he’d… pretty much vanished.
It was more gradual than anything. He’d caught sight of him at the Adventurer’s Guild location every so often and heard of things he’d done, but he was stopping by for conversations less and less; Heizou was pretty sure he was actively avoiding him.
In fact, in the week prior to their meeting on the beach, Heizou hadn’t seen Aether once.
As such, Heizou could admit that he was more than a little relieved to run into him on the beach that night, but he couldn’t say the same for the state that Aether was in.
For starters, he’d looked exhausted— bags under his eyes, unusually slouched, the whole package. And stressed, clearly, between the pacing, shortness of breath, and the tense expression he’d been wearing just moments before Heizou had announced his presence.
Really, though, one of the parts that worried him the most was the immediate change in composure as soon as he’d noticed Heizou was there.
Realistically, anyone would try to get their act together if someone else was there to see it— he himself was not innocent of this— but it was the instant, deliberate reset of Aether’s entire demeanour that put Heizou off.
It was a practiced switch to collected and reserved, and a good one, at that. Heizou was pretty sure it would have worked on him if he weren’t so inclined to always question what he saw.
For a little while, he went along with Aether’s obvious desire for his poor condition to go unnoticed, asking him casual questions with the hope to glean some more accidentally implied answers— like the fact that he’d likely left after Paimon had already fallen asleep (to avoid worrying her? Considering his earlier coverup, this didn’t seem like a stretch to Heizou), and that he might have been in such a state that he couldn’t keep track of time, although that could very well have been caused by something else.
Still, he couldn’t help but implore Aether to rest. He knew something was going on, and he really did care about the guy. It was nice to have someone around who did more than put up with you.
Obviously, he knew it was worse than “just a bad day", but Heizou got the feeling that Aether really would rest sooner than later, so he’d backed off and left him with that advice.
After that, Heizou was glad to see him around the streets more, although he still wasn’t stopping by to talk.
He often spotted him around the Adventurer’s Guild in the mornings, but aside from that, he didn’t seem to be doing much else, hobby-wise.
Heizou had visited Aether’s teapot occasionally with the realm dispatch he had been gifted the day Aether first invited him, but, again, nowadays he rarely bumped into him there whenever he stopped by.
Even then, when he did see him in passing, he didn’t look too well. Many keywords came to mind— tired, anxious, disheveled, absent, and so on and so forth. In other words, he looked just like he did that night on the beach.
If anything, some days, he seemed even worse off. Heizou was getting worried that he had actually fallen ill- he certainly looked the part. Those particular days, he noticed even Paimon giving Aether quick worried looks. That was saying something, because, bless her heart, in that regard, he was pretty sure Paimon was quite dense.
Heizou stepped off the stone streets and onto the dirt paths that ran through the grass, brushing off a maple leaf that had fallen on his shoulder.
Altogether, the facts definitely warranted concern.
Still, a lack of a proper explanation (and no opportunity to ask Aether himself) had set that case on the back burner for quite some time… that was, until he caught wind of some new rumours that offered him an all but foolproof reasoning for his friend’s troubled appearance.
All that was left to do to prove it was to ask him.
That was where a wrench had been thrown into his plans, because he hadn’t seen Aether once today— not even at the Guild.
That might have made his life harder, but today, Heizou had a bit of a feeling.
He was definitely not the sort of person to ignore what his intuition was telling him. As such, he quietly slipped the realm dispatch Aether had given him out of his pocket and closed his eyes.
When he reopened them, golden sunlight and a crisp, light breeze filled the air around him.
He stood upon the peaks of a vast mountain range, the sky stunning blue in all directions, towering far above a sea of soft white clouds.
Sometimes some of Aether’s other friends were around, but today, the grassy peaks were empty, completely quiet bar for the gentle ambiance of the wind and leaves.
A ways in front of him, seated on a slightly raised plateau, was an impressively sized mansion built in an easily recognizable Mondstadt style. Before it lay a foundation of stone platforms adorned with flowers, carefully constructed stairs, and a simple garden. Behind it, a few lazily turning windmills spun carefree in the breeze.
Large cuihua and maple trees adorned the terrain here and there, tactfully placed amidst simple decorations like benches and flowerbeds.
He knew Aether had carefully decorated every inch of this realm; whenever he visited, Heizou liked to make a game of guessing which parts he’d decorated to his own tastes and which parts he’d created with someone else in mind. It was entertaining, and it gave him a chance to appreciate the time poured into every aspect of his designs, from the sprawling streets to the smallest flowerpot, all placed with love and a keen eye.
That wasn’t what he was here for today, though.
Sticking the dispatch into his pocket, Heizou made his way past the garden and up the stairs, quietly slipping open the front door of the mansion.
The interior was just as attentively designed as the exterior.
The front near the entrance housed a small kitchen of sorts, maple wood counter and table clearly Inazuman in design, like those of a teahouse. A black and white tuxedo cat lay idly on one of the stools, purring.
This time around, though, that didn’t draw Heizou’s attention; one look at the reading nook nestled in the far corner proved his intuition correct yet again.
Between the cluttered desk and coffee table, Aether was pacing back and forth, eyes on the ground, seemingly unaware of Heizou’s presence.
That was the first of many things Heizou clocked as an immediate red flag. Aether was quite a perceptive person; for him to not have noticed the door opening, there was no way he could be in good sorts. He hadn’t even glanced in that direction.
The pacing was an obvious second. Whole body tensed, distant expression, shaky hands, face sheet pale— well, Heizou didn’t need any more reason to believe Aether was bordering on panic.
He took only a split second to filter through that information before making his presence known, the same way he had on the beach.
“Ah, Aether! There you are!” He kept his tone casual. As worried as Heizou was for him, he had a strong feeling that he couldn’t get what he needed to help by being direct.
Aether all but whirled in his direction, and as Heizou watched, there it was again- that immediate, crafted mask, slamming down over his previous appearance as he frantically composed himself.
“Hey, Heizou! I— uh— wasn’t expecting you!” He picked nervously at the end of his scarf with half of a laugh, but Heizou noticed immediately that his hands were still shaking. Dead giveaway.
“Ah, sorry for startling you. Again,” Heizou added. He did mean that, genuinely.
“No, no, it’s no issue,” Aether said, shaking his head. “You— were you looking for me? Do you need anything?”
Heizou waved him off, strolling over from the entrance. “No, that’s not it, I just haven’t seen you in a while,” he explained. It wasn’t really a lie. “That, and I wanted to ask you something, but I wouldn’t really consider that needing something from you.”
“… Oh?” Aether said, a little apprehensively. “Ask away, then.”
“So— and correct me if I’m wrong,” Heizou said. “But I heard that you and Paimon leave for Sumeru tomorrow?”
Heizou knew he’d hit the nail on the head with that one. Aether’s face had shifted into a barely repressed pained expression, and he let the pause in conversation draw out far too long.
“… Yep,” Aether said. “Tomorrow. We’re—… we’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Now… I may be going out on a limb here,” Heizou said, “but you seem kind of nervous about it.”
“Well—“ He began to protest, but faltered. “I mean— well—… really, wouldn’t anyone be?” He laughed, but it was clearly forced.
“Aether…” Heizou said. “I’ve noticed. All of this. Every time I’ve seen you around, you’ve looked stressed, or sick, or exhausted— it’s been like this for weeks.”
“I…” He cleared his throat. “Really, I just haven’t been sleeping enough. It’s nothing. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
It wasn’t a good lie. Heizou shook his head. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, but I know you’re not telling the truth. I haven’t had a chance to speak with you since we met on the beach, otherwise I would have asked you sooner.”
“Planning got hectic…” Aether mumbled. He wouldn’t look at him.
“You can always come talk to me,” Heizou said. “You can ask for my help with anything, anytime, you know?”
“I just—“ Aether started to reply, then visibly faltered, as though he had only just heard him. “… Huh?”
“… You can come to me for help,” Heizou repeated. “If you need anything, I’m here. You’ve helped me so many times that I really owe it to you— and on top of that, I just want to help you. That’s what friends do, Aether.”
Aether stared at him for a moment, as though he was still processing what he’d said, before quickly shaking his head. “No, it’s— it’s not like that. I was just getting myself worked up over nothing. There’s no need, really.”
“Do you realize how much a different perspective can help with that?” Heizou said. “It’s times like those that you need someone to help you more than ever.”
Aether didn’t respond.
“I can understand why you’re worried about it, Aether,” Heizou said. He didn’t know the full story, but with rumours of his role in ending the Vision Hunt Decree, and the faint lightning scars on his skin… it wasn’t too hard to infer. “I know that Inazuma was… less than kind to you.”
Aether hummed a quiet assent, but he was still staring at the floor.
“It—“ Aether started, then hesitated. “Well, I just hope Sumeru will be better,” he said with a mirthless laugh.
“So that is the part that you’re worried about, then?” Heizou asked quietly, but his tone suggested that he’d been very much aware of this from the start.
Aether paused, lowering his head. “Yeah. I— I just—“ He carded his fingers through his hair anxiously.
“It’s tomorrow,” Aether said, his voice suddenly much weaker. “I don’t know anything about what it might be like, or what’ll happen, or—“ his voice broke— “… or what they’ll want me to do, or…”
He shut his eyes tight and took a long, shaky breath, clearly struggling to keep his composure.
“I’ve got no idea.” His voice was starting to waver now. “But if it turns out to be like Inazuma, I— I don’t think— I don’t think I can—” He cut himself off, bringing a hand up to his forehead as though he had a headache.
“So I—“ Aether’s breath caught in his throat. “So I’m just a little bit—“
Heizou shook his head and pulled him into a hug.
Aether froze for a second, as if startled, then leaned into the gesture and hugged him back.
They stayed like that for a few moments.
“Thanks,” Aether whispered once his breathing had steadied.
“‘Course,” Heizou said. He gently pulled away, but kept one hand on Aether’s shoulder. “There’s really no way to know what’s going to happen, but that doesn’t mean it’s all going to be awful, you know.”
“… What?” Aether said.
“I mean, every nation you’ve been to— they’ve all had new places to explore, new people to meet, and new things to try, haven’t they?” Heizou pointed out. “No matter what happens, it can’t be all bad. You’ve told me plenty of adventuring stories from plenty of places, even Inazuma, and you’ve made new friends everywhere you’ve gone. I’m sure that much won’t change.”
Aether paused. He looked genuinely thoughtful, which relieved Heizou a little bit; his worries were completely reasonable, and that always made giving reassurance difficult. Still, he wanted to do what he could to help.
“When all’s said and done, I’ll still be here to talk to,” Heizou promised. “About everything, mundane or awful or nice or anything in between. I know you can’t just get rid of anxiety, but in my experience, looking on the bright side really does help sometimes.” He shot Aether a grin. “And if everything goes according to plan, take some photos for me, huh?”
Aether laughed. “It… definitely won’t, but I’ll make sure to get some for you.”
Heizou smiled. “Best of luck, Aether.”
“I’ll need it,” he said, a little nervously.
Heizou bumped his shoulder against Aether’s. “Just make sure you take care of yourself, okay?”
Aether mulled over that for a short moment.
“I will,” he promised.