Chapter Text
Aether loved the scenery of Sumeru. The intensely colorful flora and fauna were second to none in Teyvat, but Celestia, were the bugs annoying. Little flying things buzzing around him all the time, spider webs to stumble through, and creepy crawlies showing up in every nook and cranny.
Paimon and Aether were traveling through the Avidya forest to answer a commission sent from Ghandarva Ville. They had set up camp in the forest, about a half days journey away.
Aether was getting a fire going for dinner when he noticed three swollen splotches going across his forearm. They were itchy, but not alarmingly so. What was most striking about them was the veins snaking away from the purple center. It looked a little alien like.
“Paimon thinks we should hurry up cook some dinner before it gets too dark.” Paimon’s voice shook Aether out of his thoughts. She was rummaging through their bags finding ingredients for a hot meal. “Does the traveler want steak, chicken, or both tonight? Paimon thinks we should eat both.”
Aether rolled his eyes. “Paimon, if we eat all out food tonight, we won’t have any for breakfast or lunch tomorrow.”
“Hmph. I guess you’re right. For future Paimon’s sake, we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to eat the chicken.”
“Of course, we could eat it all tonight and then I’ll just eat you tomorrow.”
Paimon crossed her arms and stomped her foot on the air. “Paimon is NOT food.” She feigned annoyance.
Aether considered telling Paimon about the spots on his arm, but he knew she wouldn’t know anything about it. It would only make her fret. He made a mental note to bring it up to Tighnari when they reached Ghandarva Ville tomorrow.
After a good steak and mushroom meal, Aether stumbled into the tent and fell asleep in an instant.
“Aether, wake up… Paimon is worried about you…. Aether wake up!!”
Aether groggily woke from his slumber. His head was pounding and he was shivering despite being in the middle of the rainforest.
“You don’t look so good…” Paimon buzzed around him nervously.
Aether groaned in response and sat up, precariously balancing himself. He looked down to see his clothes drenched in sweat.
Without a word, Aether stumbled out of the tent and over to the nearby river for a drink of water. Paimon floated next to him, eyes wide with worry.
“Are you sick? Do we need to take you to a doctor? Are you feeling faint? Is it spirit borneol again?” Paimon bombarded Aether with questions.
Aether just groaned in response. His hand trembled as he lifted up his arm. The splotches had only gotten darker in color.
Paimon gasped, “Aether, that looks terrible! When did they appear?”
“Last night,” Aether croaked. “Didn’t want to worry you.”
“Well Paimon would rather worry about you then not know when something’s wrong. Let’s get you to Ghandarva Ville. Tighnari should know what’s going on.” Paimon said and rushed back to start packing up the tent.
Aether stumbled over to help, and slowly but surely their campsite came down and Aether stored it all away in his teapot. By the time they were done, the sun had already warmed the forest. The two started on their slow journey stumbling through the rainforest.
Aether really felt bad. His steps were shaky and he was so weak. He had no idea how he would get all the way to Ghandarva ville.
“At this rate, we won’t get there until dark,” Paimon fretted. “We’ve been moving for hours with very little progress.”
“Cant turn around now. Any other settlement would take us days to get to. Let’s just keep going.”
“Paimon hopes we run into a forest ranger patrol.”
They continued on with their journey, slowly but steadily. Aether felt himself growing weaker as the day went on. Small hills turned into mountains, requiring far more effort to hike than normal. His heart pounded in his chest faster than he had ever felt it go before. The itch that had previously festered his arm had now progressed into incessant stinging, and his forearm was now twice its normal size. His head continued to ache and he couldn’t decide if he was too hot or too cold.
Eventually, Aether dropped to his knees, panting and shaking. “I … need a minute,” he panted. “Can’t … catch… my breath…” the edges of his vision darkened a bit and he swayed from side to side.
Paimon buzzed around anxiously. “You should drink some water and lie down for a bit. Oh how Paimon wishes she knew what to do,” she stomped her foot. “Paimon’s never felt this helpless before.”
Aether spent the next fifteen minutes on his back trying to calm his racing heart. Paimon fretted around him, bringing him water, making him comfortable, and wiping the sweat off his forehead, but there was only so much she could do. Aether could tell she was at her wits end trying to find a solution, but really, the only thing that they could do was hope that Aether would regain his strength to move on.
After fifteen minutes, Aether slowly got to his feet. The rest had helped enough for him to keep pushing forwards, but with his symptoms steadily worsening, he knew he had to push on before he was too weak to stand.
The pair continued on in silence. Paimon did her best to clear any branches or obstacles in their way, and Aether just focused on putting one step in front of the other.
By the time sun had set, it had gotten much harder to see. They were almost to Ghandarva Ville, when Aether stopped. He suddenly felt a great deal worse. Paimon was ahead of him by a couple of paces, using all her strength to remove a vine in the trail path. Aether swayed on his feet. Something felt off. The sudden increase in his symptoms held a familiar edge to it. He looked to his left and strained his eyes. A branch was glowing red and spewing a dark smoke. The Withering.
Aether called out to Paimon, but it came only as a whisper. The darkness on the sides of his vision returned, quicker then ever, and his surroundings pixilated into nothing as he collapsed to the ground.