Chapter Text
After bidding farewell to their Abyss siblings, Aether and Lumine continue their journey, completely unaware of the small lapse in their memories. To them, Teyvat is very much the same wonderful world that they want to explore to their hearts' content.
Unfortunately, Kong and Ying’s existence isn't simply erased after their departure from this world. As a result, the very few individuals who are aware of their relationship to the little travellers are bound to seek them out for answers.
“Your Highnesses!”
Enjou appears in front of Aether and Lumine a week later, in the middle of the Sumeru desert, while the twin travellers are having a mini-competition over who can collect more scarabs. With their attention span, they both found a fat zero of the sand beetles and looted a bunch of bright henna berries instead.
"Mister Enjou!" The twins greet the Abyss monster, immediately wondering if there may be a forbidden library or book fair nearby.
The pyro lector wipes some non-existent sweat from his forehead. “Thank the Abyss — I finally found you. I have been looking for you everywhere."
“You have?! Did something happen?”
Aether and Lumine perk up at the lector’s words, hoping that Kong and Ying have sent him to get them because they promised to meet more often. Instead, Enjou proceeds to inform them that their older halves are now missing in action. More importantly, the little travellers are supposedly the last ones to see them.
“Us?! No no. We haven’t seen them in a long time.” Aether and Lumine refute the accusation.
“But I saw you meeting up just the other day.” Enjou insists, before he dials back. "Actually, I can’t be certain if it’s recent or a long time ago. Time is an unreliable concept in the Abyss... Still, I’m pretty sure that no one saw the leaders again after they met you, Your Highnesses.”
“But... that means they've been gone for a few months?” Lumine exclaims, trying to estimate how long it has been with her tiny hands.
From the travellers’ memory, the Olympus Mirage was the last place where they met their older soul siblings, right before they headed off to Sumeru.
Aether also frowns. “It’s been that long, but you never tried to find them before?”
Enjou attempts to explain himself. "Please don’t put it as if I don't care about the older prince and princess specifically."
"Aww, so you do care?"
"Oh no, not at all." Enjou corrects them. "What I mean is, I don't care about anyone at all.”
"Eh!?"
"Well, neither do the rest of those in the Abyss Order."
The undead cannot be killed, but neither are they alive. Most of the Abyssal monsters do not hold any feelings of joy nor sorrow, only obsession. It’s understandable that they care very little for anything. Even so, Aether and Lumine feel sad that Kong and Ying are surrounded by people who won't bat an eye if anything bad happens to them.
"Anyway, you don't need to worry. Our twin leaders have gone off on their own many times in the past. They just like to do what they want. I can relate." Enjou continues monologuing. "Besides, they are too strong to be defeated by anyone in this world. I’m 100% certain that they are doing absolutely fine right now."
Aether points out. “Then why are you looking for them?”
The pyro monster shrugs. “It's because if they continue to go missing any longer, we will need to decide on a new round of leadership. We are quite short-handed, you see.”
Lumine pouts, not impressed by Enjou's ulterior motive. “Why don’t you become the new leader, mister Enjou?”
Enjou jumps back dramatically, as if the little girl has suggested something absurd.
“No way! I despise that kind of responsibility. My book collection will become a target the moment I accept the position. Every time someone didn't want to follow my order, they would find my precious books and burn them... I'd never willingly put myself in such a predicament.”
The little travellers suppose he raised a fair point. To become the heads of the Order, Kong and Ying have to be strong enough to stand above all these monsters’ harassment.
"What about the other pyro lector we met? Miss Rosalyne? She seems nice." Aether proposes another idea.
Even though they have only seen the new lector for a total of two times, Aether and Lumine reckon Rosalyne must be capable. Kong and Ying wouldn't keep her close and even entrusted her to bring the travellers around if they didn't find her exceptional.
Enjou shakes his head even more vigorously this time. “Your Highnesses! While it’s true that Rosalyne is strong, she doesn’t have any weaknesses at all. That's a huge problem. How am I going to cope if she orders me to do something I don't want to do?... We need a leader who is capable but also has some sort of exploitable weakness when necessary.”
“...”
Aether and Lumine are starting to realise that the real issue here is Enjou.
Anyhow, Lumine becomes quite curious. “What exploitable weakness did Kong and Ying have?”
"Oh, it's quite simple." Enjou's panicked voice switches back to mischief as he utters a familiar name, "Dainsleif.”
“...Dain?!” Aether echoes after the lector, pursing his lips in confusion. “Dainsleif is their weakness? What about him?”
Enjou explains. “Oh, don’t you know? As much as the Older Highnesses always insisted that they hated that guy, they never seriously wanted to harm him. Conveniently, he also likes to meddle with the Abyss Order’s business, so we can blame a lot of things on him without raising suspicion.”
Aether and Lumine’s jaws drop. “What!?... You—”
“It’s not just me.” Enjou unnecessarily clarifies. “Everyone in the Order figured that out soon enough and we’ve been leveraging this knowledge to our advantage.”
The lector wheezes as if he is having a stroke while continuing to list all sorts of ridiculous excuses that the Abyss Order has utilised when answering to their leaders.
Failure to steal a Statue of the Seven? Dainsleif messed up the plan.
Failure to report on time? Dainsleif suddenly appeared and blocked their path.
Failure to fetch lunch? Dainsleif.
Failure to make coffee? Dainsleif again.
“It's so convenient.” Enjou concludes, wiping an imaginary tear away. “That man is practically our lord and saviour.”
Aether and Lumine finally realise the reason why their soul siblings have been holding so much pent-up frustration towards the Twilight Sword. The Abyss Order has been the root cause all along. They are indeed evil.
"You are evil!” Lumine proclaims out loud, with all the anger a seven-year-old body can muster.
Enjou appears extremely encouraged.
“Oh, you flatter me... And thanks for reminding me about that. Their Highnesses the Prince and Princess are indeed the best leaders we could ever have,” Enjou says forlornly. “I’d better delay the Order from appointing a new head for as long as possible.”
Unlike Enjou, the little travellers would wholeheartedly support their older selves if they no longer wished to be part of the Order. They are still wondering what to say to discourage the lector when he comes up with an even more terrible idea.
“I know! How about I say that the older Highnesses were cursed and shrank into babies? That way, everyone would think you two are them, and then we won’t have to elect a new leader." Enjou presents his groundbreaking proposal, looking pleased with himself.
“No!” The travellers reject the offer right away. “We don’t want to join the Abyss Order!”
“Oh no, you aren't joining.” Enjou corrects them. Kong and Ying already cut his book allowance in half when he accidentally brought them into the base that one time. He cannot have a repeat of that. “I’ll only be borrowing your identities, until your siblings return."
Since Aether and Lumine's posters were pasted inside the Abyss Order's base some time ago, most members have remembered their faces by heart. Enjou can definitely leverage that and twist the story around. The only challenge he may encounter is with a few elite members who have already met Aether and Lumine together with the leaders. They have to be persuaded to go along first or Enjou's plan can easily fall apart.
"Don’t worry. Just leave this to me, Your Highnesses,” Enjou tells the kids, as if any of this was their idea.
"We don't even know if they will come back, Mister Enjou." Aether whines.
"W-what if they already left this world?" Lumine adds, frowning sadly.
"Not a chance." Enjou replies resolutely. "You two are still here. There's no way they would not return."
Sinc the lector is absolutely confident, it makes Aether and Lumine feel a tiny bit better about this whole thing. That does not mean they approve his radical plan.
“What if the Abyss Order's members start approaching us?” Aether asks. "We don't want that... They will scare away our acquaintances."
"It's fine. I will tell them you don't remember anything while you are babies so they will leave you alone.”
"...We're not babies!" Lumine quickly slides in a correction while Aether continues, "What if some still do it anyway? We will have to beat— I mean we'll have to chase them away... Wouldn't they get suspicious?"
"Our members would be more suspicious if you don't beat them to a pulp on sight, Your Highnesses." Enjou wheezes again like it's the funniest thing he heard all day. "Besides, not all Abyss monsters you encounter may belong to the Order. The Abyss itself is bigger than all seven nations combined. The Order is only one of the main major factions existed there... In short, you don’t have to hold back at all. Beat them all up! You got it?"
The only thing they got is that Enjou is an awful comrade.
"...But—"
Finally, Enjou has had enough of the little travellers' hesitation and decides to change the topic.
"Alright, that's enough of that. Anyway, what are you both doing in the desert? You shouldn't linger here for too long. This area is of high risk— a mythical threat."
As Enjou expected, Aether and Lumine's eyes immediately twinkle. They recognise the meaning of that word.
"Really?!... What's hidden here?!"
Enjou grins menacingly as he reveals. "The ancient Dendro Dragon, of course. They should be resting somewhere deep in this desert. Any unfortunate soul who stumbles into their domain by accident may never make it out alive."
Aether and Lumine’s faces turn impossibly bright. They haven't met any big dragons after Azhdaha, which feels like a long time ago. Inazuma doesn't have any dragons, not one that is alive at least, so they didn't expect Sumeru to have one when nobody has mentioned it.
"...So I recommend that you explore some other places, like Fontaine!" Enjou continues his monologue, not bothering to check if anyone is listening. "It’s on the other side of this desert. Fontaine is an exciting place, if I have to say so myself! There are bound to be some incredible things happening there soon."
The lector is looking way too excited that the little travellers' trouble sense starts ringing.
"Uh. Did you hear that from Kong and Ying?... That something will happen in Fontaine?" Lumine has to ask.
By the hesitation in her voice, one can easily tell that what the girl really wants to check is whether the Abyss Order is orchestrating some sort of destruction in the nation of Hydro.
Enjou appears to understand the implicit question.
"My little prince and princess, you give me too much credit. I'm not hardworking enough to get involved with any major operations from the Order. So I'm afraid I haven't heard much at all." The pyro monster tells the children in a tone full of pride, as if he sees his laziness as a great achievement.
“Really?” Aether asks again.
“Of course!” Enjou confirms. "Though if you are looking for recommendations on sightseeing spots — The older Highnesses often mentioned that the jails in Fontatine are among the best they have seen."
"...Oh?"
Aether and Lumine bob their heads as they mentally take note of the bizarre endorsement. Since it’s their other halves who said this, they can safely conclude that the free food portion in Fontaine Prison must be great.
"Alright then, I should go.”
Having successfully distracted the little twins from their concerns about becoming the temporary figureheads of the Abyss Order, Enjou decides he should get lost as quickly as possible.
“Goodbye, your Highnesses. Let’s not meet again anytime soon." The pyro lector conjures an Abyssal portal and disappears in a flash.
"Uh, okay. Bye bye!~"
The travellers wave back, wondering why Enjou came to speak to them in the first place. He is just going to do whatever he wants anyway.
++++++++++
Since Enjou has warned Aether and Lumine about a certain Dendro Dragon, the twin travellers decide that they should absolutely go find them.
The little siblings have seen Dvalin and Azhdaha, who are about the size of a mountain, so it doesn’t surprise them that Apep is gigantic. What surprises them is exactly how gigantic Apep is. The ancient dragon can easily cover the entire sky of the desert if they so wish.
"Uwah!" The twins exclaim in awe. “So big!!!”
Apep looks less than impressed by their response. “Puny gods… Leave my domain.”
Perhaps if the little siblings had met Apep when they first came to Teyvat, they would have wisely heeded the warning. Nevertheless, after interacting with a giant grumpy wolf spirit and another giant grumpy geo dragon on a frequent basis, they have learned that they have nothing to fear against the grumps.
Still, to appease the colossal dragon, they gift Apep a few balls of elemental energy. Unlike Azhdaha, Apep looks like they are in a bad shape and any experienced traveller would know that nobody likes to talk when they are starving.
“Enough!”
Apep shouts in alarm after receiving the third dose of energy, startling the little godlings, who are only trying their best to heal the sick dragon.
Right then, another voice calls out to the twin travellers.
“Aether! Lumine!” Nahida appears, looking panicked as she rushes towards her friends. “Are you alright?"
The twins blink at her as a strong wave of drowsiness strikes them.
“Hmm… Yeah. We’re fine.” The siblings answer, though they are unable to stop a huge yawn from escaping their lips.
At least they aren't on the verge of fainting like the last time they cleansed the Irminsul. It's a little strange considering that they gave out just as much energy this time.
The Dendro Archon looks like she wants to nag them for what they did but decides that it’s not the right time. Instead, she turns to address the huge presence that is looming over them.
“Apep, I’m sorry for being late. My name is Buer, the new Dendro Archon of Sumeru… We’re here to save you.”
Apep replies in a mocking tone. “Tiny Buer. I do not need saving."
They understand very well that these godlings have no choice but to keep them alive. Due to the extent of Apep’s power, once they perish, the entire Sumeru will likely go down with them.
On the other hand, Apep wonders why in Teyvat did that Usurper from beyond the heavens keeps sending all the ‘tinies’ here. Did they somehow find out that dragons secretly have a soft heart for cute— 'No, there is no way they would know. Most dragons don’t even admit this information aloud to each other.' Apep calms themselves internally.
Buer’s predecessor, Dantalian, was also this small when Apep met her for the first time. It was probably due to her tiny form that even other gods of humanity like Amun and Nabu Malikata were so overprotective. They even pushed the former Dendro Archon to the eastern territory of Sumeru so that she would be excluded from all their rebellious plans.
‘Foolishness,’ Apep thinks. In the end, the two of them still lost everything. Judging from Buer’s appearance here, even that child did not manage to escape the heavens’ wrath.
Nahida hesitates. "But…"
“Leave." The dragon grumbles, trying to push the tinies away. "You will find no gratefulness from me, even if you heal me."
"...But they've already healed you though." Nahida says awkwardly, gesturing to her twin friends.
Apep goes silent at the absurd reminder. After receiving those balls of energy, Apep’s mind has indeed become a lot clearer. Even the pain that has been with them for centuries is gone. Those teeny-tiny gods have somehow patched up the void left behind after all forbidden knowledge was removed from this world. Even though they did not manage to heal the dragon fully, the danger of death is far gone and Apep only needs to take a long rest to recover their power.
Apep wonders if they have overlooked something. Considering how young these godlings are, their feats are nothing short of a miracle.
After a pause, Apep speaks again, their glowing eyes observing the tired twin travellers with renewed interest. "I see… You have met other dragonkins."
Nahida turns to look at Aether and Lumine, surprised by the revelation, while the twins tilt their heads as if they just realise that’s something important to mention.
"Um, yes, we have,” Aether admits.
The twins open their palms to reveal the dragon claw marks that they received from Dvalin and Azhdaha a few months ago. The Geo dragon was the one who gave it first when the travellers sneaked him some food while Zhongli was not looking. And then Dvalin gave them his as well, because he only realised then that he could give them something like that.
Apep stares at the marks for a second before releasing a low grunt, like the kind of sound someone makes when a fly lands on their uneaten dessert.
“Fine. Stand still.”
Already knowing what the dragon is about to do, Aether and Lumine stay put in anticipation. They can feel Nahida tense up, her grip on their shirt subconsciously tightens when Apep raises one of their claws and reaches forward. The twins hum as a familiar warmth blooms from the contact between their hands and the ancient being's.
The size of a dragon’s claw is large enough to crush any being underneath it. As a result, while a dragon claw mark is basically just another type of elemental seal, it’s supposed to represent trust and protection from the giver.
“There," Apep simply says, without bothering to explain anything. "Now leave. Frail life-forms like you cannot survive in the endless sands of the desert.”
With that as their parting message, the ancient dragon disappears, presumably going back to rest. The thick sand storm surrounding the entire area clears up as if it never existed.
After a short silence, Nahida exhales in relief, hugging the little travellers. “I think they meant to say ‘thanks’ ?”
++++++++++
Unlike Nahida, the Wanderer has no problem kicking Aether and Lumine where it hurts most.
“...Did you shrink again?!!”
His proclamation practically broadcasts the twin travellers’ predicament to everyone currently visiting their Serenitea Pot. Venti is by their side in the next split second.
“Dear me… You two have indeed lost quite a bit of height. What happened?” The Anemo Archon asks, his hands pinching the babies’ puffy cheeks.
“Noooo~! It’s only five centimetres!” The twins whine, trying to wiggle out of the bard’s vicious hold.
It’s frustrating because they had to wait a long time to grow that much and now their physical state is reset right back to when they first started their journey in Teyvat.
“Don’t be upset. You are cute like this,” Ei reassures the children.
“It’s not cute!” Scara corrects her with more heat than necessary.
“It was dangerous.” Nahida agrees, taking a seat on the tea table next to Zhongli. “If I attempted to heal Apep like they did, I’d probably turn into a twig or a leaf... Please be careful next time."
The traveller siblings bob their heads. Since they are stars, they wouldn’t turn into tree branches, but having their physical bodies regressed is always troublesome.
“Okay. We also don’t want to become small rocks,” Aether says.
Everyone concurs, except for Zhongli who believes his hatchlings would make the cutest little rocks that he could keep in his pocket.
++++++++++
On the other side of the desert, the people of Fontaine have been experiencing heavy rain the entire morning, courtesy of their resident Hydro Dragon. Despite the distance, Neuvillette could sense the disappearance of his dendro counterpart after they returned to rest.
Even though Neuvillette is a Hydro Sovereign, there are many things he doesn’t understand about himself. As a result, he has been toying with the idea of finding other dragons to seek their advice. Unfortunately, his oldest kin has gone into slumber and Neuvillette has no one to blame but his own indecisiveness over the past few centuries. No matter how unappealing the heat of the desert is, he should have at least made an attempt to find Apep before it’s too late.
“Monsieur Neuvillette. May I come in?”
A soft voice interrupts the young sovereign’s regretful thoughts. Neuvillette looks up from his paperwork to see Sedene standing at the door. His heavy heart is instantly lightened up by the sight of the cute Melusine.
“Of course, Sedene. Please come in,” the gentle dragon says.
“Monsieur, a new trial is about to begin. This is the information we’ve gathered,” Sedene says as she tiptoes and places a few documents onto the Fontaine Chief Justice’s table.
“Thank you.” Neuvillette gives the Melusine a rare smile in appreciation.
Indeed, nothing helps with depression like the power of cuteness. Deep down, Neuvillette wonders if this is a normal thought for dragons to have. Perhaps it’s better that he never met Apep and saw the disappointment in their face upon hearing such an 'obvious' question.
Outside Palais Mermonia, the rain finally ceases.