Work Text:
When does Aether stop questioning things as a matter of human nature, and start questioning it as a matter of simple physics and philosophy?
Humanity was not made for cruelty, and they were not made for kindness either. When they began to walk on two legs and began to speak, what is Aether, who isn’t a god and isn’t a human, but only a star in the guise of either, to do when he is presented with the idea of saving fates from doom?
Well – it is what happens to every boy that dreams of being a hero: they save too much, and lose far more.
---
“This is not your home,” The little anemo fungus says, as it floats towards the core suspended above the domain. “We go home. Lord of Dendro should also go home.”
And as Nahida pleads for the guardian of the verdure dragon to hear their wishes, and as Paimon watches with both hands on Aether’s shoulders, Aether only mulls on the words Home.
What is home, to him? His sister, his friends? He has been nothing but a traveler, wandering worlds for the 13 billion years he has existed, never lingering anywhere for any extended period of time.
He files the questions away for later, the thoughts of homesickness and longing for something he cannot have falling secondary to the fight ahead of him.
Fighting is easy. Fighting he can get. So, he raises his blade and awaits his turn.
---
This is the question: If you replace all the boards of a ship with new ones, is that still the same ship?
If Aether completes his journey throughout Teyvat, and emerges from the other side of the storm with new fears in his mind and new scars across his bones, is he still the same person as he started?
To change, to grow. What is a black hole if not a star that has suffered a process?
---
Umitsubame sidles up to Aether’s side during the championship, watching the others chase butterflies across the city of Sumeru. He sighs, hovering only a few scant centimetres to just be able to lean on Aether’s head. Paimon had draped herself on Umitsubame’s shoulders, so it was a simple retribution.
“This is stupid. Why am I even in this competition…” Umitsubame mumbles, watching as Cyno bounds up the great tree in the centre of the city for another flash of blue green wings. “Buer really has my work cut out for me.”
“Oh, so now you’re willing to tell us?” Paimon asks, as she flips herself upside-down to look Umitsubame in the eye. Her hair dangles with the action, brushing the top of Aether’s head. Aether only watches as Faruzan and Kaveh, silently noting where the others had gone.
“Look, the problem shouldn’t be any of your concern,” Umitsubame suddenly says, pushing himself off Aether’s head and dislodging Paimon in one swift movement. “So, don’t stress yourself over nothing, alright? I have it handled.”
Umitsubame lands both feet on the ground, and turns whilst giving a singular wave, not bothering to look back. “Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong and get hurt in the process, alright?” he calls out over his shoulder, as he walks back to the staring area.
Aether stares at Umitsubame’s back, before turning to find Layla, Paimon trailing after him.
---
This is a question: If lightning strikes a tree in a swamp whilst you are standing nearby and turns into you, whilst you, yourself, is reduced to nothing but the base elements of the world, is it you? Does this replica, who acts and looks like you, still you in the end?
Does Aether exist in a vacuum? If he were to vanish and be replaced by an exact copy, is it still him?
What is he trying to do, replicating a journey that had already ended?
---
Yoimiya asks “How is finding your sister going?” and Aether goes very, very quiet.
Because how do you answer a question like that?
His answer comes in starts and stops. “I…I don’t…” he begins, stumbling over the words in Teyvat common. He tries, in so many ways.
Paimon smoothly takes over, and he is glad that she was there, and glad that she can speak when he cannot. When they stop for a moment to take a break from travelling, Yoimiya crushes him into a hug, and Aether presses his face against her shoulder and tries to breathe.
Count backwards from ten, and rework himself back into the nothing more then the traveler, and not the grief stricken boy looking for his sister.
---
And when the stars raise from the earth as a result of the Aranara’s weaving of dreams, Aether keeps about his thoughts about the silicate and ice and iron that form meteors to himself.
---
The Genius Invokation tournament arrives and leaves with nary a whisper in Aether’s ears. He simply finds vantage points to watch the competitions, and when the worst nearly comes to past, he makes his presence known.
And when he watches a man mourn his best friend – with the final bit of closure that he sought having arrived in a cardboard box, Aether says nothing then either.
This grief is not his to speak on, after all.
---
And then – it is summer again.
Aether spends his time in the Veluriyam Mirage hiding under giant leaves and in the openings of caves. Paimon always follows – because without her he’d spiral – and she makes sure that he eats and drinks and watches the stars with him.
“Paimon thinks you spent this summer a lot happier!” she says, as she manages to peel apart a sunsettia and leave the pieces on a plate dragged out from Aether’s inventory. “This adventure was a nice break from everything, isn’t it?”
Aether hums his agreement, fingers curling around an apple piece. “It’s nice here. Quieter.”
Paimon giggles, legs kicking in the air. “And the Hydro Mimics here are so nice! Paimon has never seen them so tame before!” She chomps down on her sunsettia. Paimon floats for a few minutes, enjoying the silence, before realising Aether hadn’t eaten his apple.
“Aether!” she whisper shouts, pointing at the offending piece of fruit. “Your apple is going to turn brown if you don’t eat it now!”
Aether chuckles, shaking his head as he puts the apple piece in his mouth. “Sorry,” he says as he swallows, and reaches for another.
---
Under packed earth and tree roots, in a little box, is a photograph of a boy with golden hair, and a small sprite floating next to him, the two of them grinning from ear to ear.
In the letter accompanying it, it will tell you of a wonderous journey that starts in the stars.
---
So, the cycle ends in Sumeru. It’s rounded back to summer, sticky heat and humid rain wrapping around him like a thick blanket, unwavering in its presence.
Aether was glad he came to Sumeru. He’s also regretful in the nightmare that followed when he stepped foot into the rainforest, into the desert, into the dreams of a nation that once did not dream. There are new scars now, crossing his torso and burrowing into his mind – migraines and a silence that threatens to swallow him whole.
But he cannot fault Sumeru – it is a nation that is now beginning to heal. Like Inazuma before it. Like Liyue before it. Like Mondstadt before it.
But never…well. Khanneri’ah was a tragedy. Aether is a walking tragedy, but only to those that look too closely. To the rest – a hero who will always be ready to save others, no matter what.
So, before he heads to Fontaine – and once again he will play the role of a hero to the people – he will first simply re-find himself in the wild. After all, he was not the same boy that had walked into the storm. He could never be, not anymore.
Before he makes his way to the nation of Justice, where Hydro flows between cupped palms, Aether will make time for himself, first.
---
So, what happens to a hero who saves many, and loses far more?
Well – it is what happens to every hero who wishes for a moment of respite: the god boy star will eventually pick up his blade in the service of the people once more.