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“…Aether, do you consider Teyvat your home?”
Sitting atop a spaceship, the spaceship; the one he and Lumine were on together centuries ago, was where Columbina proposed that question.
A few years ago, he would’ve said no. Teyvat could never be his home. The world where he and his sister were caught up in the middle of a war? Where a so-called, ‘Sustainer of Heavenly Principles’ stole his only kin, his only true family away from him? The world in which his power was sealed, wings clipped and left him to be chained to the mortal realm with no one else who could truly understand?
‘No’. He would’ve answered. ‘Home is wherever Lumine and I are together. This world tore us apart. What good is traversing the cosmos without my sister? My family?'
But these past few months forced the star-borne traveler to think more carefully on that very subject. Family. Family was between a whiz-kid mechanic and a robot. Family was between a dragon penned from ink, a prince made of chalk, and a ‘heartless’ puppet. And now, it was the family forged from the once lonely moon goddess, and her place amongst humankind with whom she had always wished for true kinship with.
Aether thought back to the beginning of his journey. When the worst of his problems was the Dragon of the East gone rogue, or figuring out where the best places to put up missing posters would be. How many years ago was that now?
‘It’s funny.’ He pondered. All this time that they’ve been apart… it should be nothing. Nothing less than a fraction of a blink of an eye. After all, they are the twins born amongst and of stardust. Made to withstand the test of time, living for thousands upon thousands of years. And yet, the time spent away from Lumine felt like a lifetime of loneliness. They shouldn’t be here, stuck on this planet. Making connections, overstaying their welcome, growing attached- it simply wasn’t allowed. It was always off to one world, and on to the next. But after everything that’s happened- not just now, but over the course of his entire journey- would Aether really be content with just leaving it all behind?
He thinks back to some of the very first friends he’s made. He thinks of a brown haired girl dressed in red, with a ribbon shaped like bunny ears gliding amongst the open sky. He thinks of a lazy librarian with a big purple witch’s hat, slacking off in the Favonious Library. He thinks of a knight with an eyepatch and star shaped eyes, drinking merrily during hours he really shouldn’t. He pictures a bard standing on top of a tree, cider in hand and playing tunes to the wind.
Aether falls further into his memory, and suddenly he’s standing amongst enlightened beings known as the adepti. Then his comrades in arms as he’s fighting the Shogun’s army. Then scholars. Then magicians. Then warriors. And now, he has spent his days here, in Nod Krai- where people from all over Teyvat reside. He’s been everywhere at this point, hasn’t he? Allies and enemies have been formed all the same. And yet the friendships he has formed have proven that maybe his family was never too far away.
He remembers the true, first friend he ever made in this world. Not knowing anything of this planet’s customs, language, or lifestyle- he was in desperate need of a guide. All Aether was trying to do was fish. Immortal he may be, he needed sustenance. Who would’ve thought the emergency food he fished up would be a little silver haired pixie?
And yet, come what may, Paimon never wavered in her resolve. Maybe she wasn’t the strongest. She was a frightful, flightful little thing. But her heart is pure and kind, and the bond she and Aether had formed was more solid and real than the sky looming over Teyvat could ever be.
He always thought home was with his family. They may not be his sister… but they may as well be on par with her.
And so, Aether looked at Columbina with a soft, genuine smile.
“…Yes. I’d say it’s my home.”
And when he said those words, he believed it.
The moonlight blanketed Teyvat in a new light that night. No longer would it be cast in shadows of illusion. The new moon goddess made sure of it.
Paimon was out like a light a few feet away from Aether, deciding that the last few nights they’d spend in Nod Krai would be in residency in their room in The Flagship. Normally, they would've been off to Snezhnaya. But after his last encounter with an actively unpredictable harbinger such as the Doctor, perhaps the journey could wait… Aether heard that Varka may be returning to Mondstadt soon. Perhaps he’d ask if they could tag along. He misses Mondstadt’s open skies and gentle breezes. It’d be nice to be back home. (When did he start calling it that?)
Aether looked at himself one last time, adorned in the garments that were sitting for centuries inside a closet on their spaceship. It had been so long since he had worn other garments from his home, feeling that ever growing melancholy and longing whenever he thought of his life before Teyvat. He took off his coat, leaving it hanging on a chair. He undid his ponytail, feeling the golden locks cascade down his back in waves. Lumine may have always preferred her hair short, but Aether adored his long flowing hair.
He sat himself beside Paimon, watching as her chest heaved up and down as she mumbled in her dreams- no doubt where she was eating all of her favourite foods with a never ending appetite. He gave her a small pat on the head as he gently wrapped her in an embrace, feeling the fatigue of every little event catch up to him. It wasn’t long before he too, fell to slumber.
But his dreams weren’t nearly as kind.
Nasha Town had become a fairly familiar and welcome sight. Anywhere in the world where he could find his friends, was always like that for Aether. His friends, and really anyone who knew anything about him, knew that the Traveler was kind, reliable, and oh so selfless. It seems as though his role in this world was to be the hero. So that’s who he wants to be, who he tries to be. If Columbina could find her place in this world, maybe so can he.
“Did you ever really hope that they could begin to understand someone like you?”
A deep voice from behind catches him off guard. A familiar voice. An unwelcome voice that should belong to a dead man. Immediately, Aether tries to run, but it feels like his nerves are shut down, his feet glued to the floor.
Dottore creeps up behind him, eyeing him down like Aether was a shiny new toy, a new experiment for him to pick apart and put back together. The blonde could only glare daggers back at him, cursing his mind for treating him to such a horrific nightmare.
‘This isn’t real, Aether. He’s dead. He’s dead he’s dead he’s dead he’s DEAD.’
“Your long life and unique origins make you fundamentally different from them. How long will it be before they start to treat you like the alien you are? Before you are ostracised, outcast?”
Though a bleeding heart he is, Aether kept it close to his chest. With everything going on, he felt it was unnecessary to harp on his feelings when there was so much already at stake. But what Dottore said to him when he was kidnapped… when he looked at him and muttered ‘alien’ at him like he was the scum of the earth- it wounded him more than it should’ve. As if he was being told straight up that no matter what he did, no matter how much he sacrificed and gave his all to the people of Teyvat, he would never truly belong. But that feeling was nothing, compared to the horrific realisation he made when he realised Dottore knew.
He knew Aether wasn’t human. And it fascinated him in all the wrong ways.
Dottore circled around him more, like a shark eyeing it’s prey before grabbing his face and turning it around, inspecting every angle as if looking for something to study. Aether’s body and voice, still refusing to move and cry, could only respond by grabbing at the taller man’s arms, trying to claw away the invasive vermin’s strong grip.
“I may be a god now in my own right, but you my dear Descender… are something else entirely.”
'This… this is new. He didn’t say this. Why is he talking to me like that?’
The Doctor saw the fear in Aether’s eyes and it only fueled his madness further.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor little creature. Tell me Traveler, are you enjoying yourself? Hiding behind the mortals of this realm, thinking you can have your fun amongst your ‘friends and family’? If you love and cherish them so much, then why haven’t you told a single one of them what you truly are.”
‘No…’ he cried in his thoughts. ‘I can’t.’
“Ah, the reluctance. I can sense it, clear as day. Who could’ve guessed a being as omnipotent as yourself, Descender, could be so insecure. Would you not rejoice over the absolute prowess you have over mankind? After all, we are gods; I’d be willing to conclude that you outlive even Teyvat’s oldest archons. And yet here you are, cowering before I. How pathetically intriguing,”
‘Shut up. You don’t know what you’re on about.’
“What will they all think when they find out, hmm?” Dottore grins, relishing in every moment of Aether’s anguish, “Would they not be in awe? That the very hero they sing praises to was in fact a being so inhuman that it has the power to go against fate itself! You are oh so fascinating, Descender. There is so much about you I want to learn. To study.”
With his mind already swimming in a sea of Dottore’s insane ramblings, Aether felt voices and whispers dance in the atmosphere. Familiar voices at that. He spies Lauma standing beside Nefer and Jahoda. Flins isn’t too far behind. Varka is standing beside Albedo and Durin, and Wanderer and Arlecchino are observing the scene from close by. Aether wants to call for help, but feels himself fall to his knees as he feels something heavy against his back. Something… oddly familiar?
His wings.
But they were wrong. They were oh so wrong. They felt like they span for miles, and instead of being lightweight, they felt like a ball and chain holding him down. He felt bare as he noticed his wrists and chest, glowing bright white in star shapes against his skin. His eyes were nothing more than blinding voids, Without a doubt, he looked ethereal. Beyond mortal comprehension. Terrifying.
Alien.
“Is that… the Traveler?”
Aether lifted his tired head to look up. Albedo. Of course it was him. Out of everyone present, he was the first one he had met out of all of them. A fellow inhuman being who bore the mark of a star, for completely different reasons.
“Boss… is that really him?” A shriek could be heard; Jahoda, surely. “Why does he look like that?!”
His friends stepped closer, looking at Aether like some sort of morbid spectacle.
‘No... they can’t see me like this. How do I explain this? Oh Lumine… I wish you were here. You were always better than me at this…’
Some of his friends, like Wanderer, gave him nothing but cold glares as he observed the scene, offended at the fact he had the gall to lie to him. Some, like Lauma, looked at him with pity and dismay. They all drew closer, and Aether felt more and more helpless with each step they take. Shame, guilt and humiliation burning into his very being.
‘Please… stop! Stop looking at me like that! I’m your friend, aren’t I?’
The tears have finally shed, and Aether feels a salty taste enter his mouth as he bites back the urge to scream. With one final snap, Dottore grabs Aether by the throat.
“Have fun while it lasts, Descender.”
When the Traveler woke up from his horrid nightmare, he felt the urge to leave once again. He felt bad for leaving Paimon in the middle of the night for a second time, but he just needed something to distract him from the tormenting thoughts. Anything.
“If they ever find out what I am… will they ever look at me the same?”
Aether mumbled out to himself to no one. Who could he turn to? There’s no one in this world quite like him. No one aside from his twin sister, and she had already forsaken him.
‘Why did I think I could fit in here, in Teyvat? How could any of them be my family? How can this possibly be my true home? At least Columbina was born here. I’m not meant to be here. Why did I think this could work?’
Maybe Aether really is just bad at being human. He thinks back to everything he’s done so far. Purifying abyssal power, defeating gods, harnessing the elements in impossible ways that the humans of this world simply couldn't- shouldn't have the capacity to do.
‘Everyone knows, don’t they? What am I even hiding at this point. They know I’m nothing more than an alien.’
Aether ponders on all the times he really let his inhuman nature slip. He thinks back to when that little girl in Sumeru told him his fortune. ‘You’ll live for tens of thousands of years.’ she had read. At that notion, he was completely unfazed. Why would he be? And yet that poor child was so shaken at the mere idea of someone living that long. That kind of lifespan... it was incomprehensible to mortal beings. He remembers Eide Chlothar Alberich, and when he demanded he spend the next century developing medicine for Caribert, Aether didn’t so much as bat an eye at the prospect of spending an entire human being’s lifespan worth of time on a quest to aid a cursed immortal being who never should've been.
How the idea of Dottore freezing him for millions of years didn’t seem to affect him in the slightest.
‘Yes.’ He thought. ‘I really am horrible at playing human, aren’t I?’
Drowning in his thoughts, Aether looked up at the moon. The moons- for whichever planet they landed on- always reminded him so much of Lumine. He gazes up at the stars- pondering which of them could be suns from far away until he remembers that none of it mattered anyway. If there’s one thing he and Teyvat’s sky had in common, it was that they were nothing more than lies.
“…Aether, do you consider Teyvat your home?” Columbina once asked him.
“I want it to be.” He answered to no one. “But will you and your home ever truly consider me?”