Chapter Text
You decided to play Genshin after a 6 month break. Closing the door to your room, you sit down at your desk and turn on the lamp. Booting up your computer, you start Genshin. The bright screen welcomes you. It's been a long day, the clock shows 12am and you’re feeling drowsy. You wait for the resources to finish downloading before deciding to take a nap while it's downloading. Resting your head on the desk, you close your eyes.
You feel soft grass brushing against your cheek, the unusual sensation causes you to open your eyes. You’ve come to realize that the ceiling is replaced by a clear sky. Unable to pinpoint your location, you stand up and take in your surroundings trying to guess where you could be.
Stretching your arms, you gaze around the area. "This feels unreal, how could I just teleport to another place? Ah, maybe I was kidnapped..." You feel a sense of dread forming in your stomach. "But did they really have to leave me out here on my own? What's the point of kidnapping me if they're just gonna abandon me? I don't even have that many enemies either.." You come to the conclusion that it's just a dream. Laying back down, you close your eyes in hopes you’ll wake up. "I think the late nights are catching up to me... Yeah, maybe that's the reason."
Minutes past, yet you still don’t feel the comfort of your room. "I can’t believe this" you stand back up again, "hmm..." You contemplate what to do. "I should find a way to get in contact with someone... Oh right, my phone isn't here" feeling dejected, you decide to walk around and try to find people. Eventually, you discover a peculiar statue of a person. "I feel like I’ve seen this before, I just can’t wrap my head around it.." eyeing the statue, you take a step towards it. A well known sound comes from it.
A bard sits up on a tree. Spotting their presence, he looks over his shoulder. “Your grace?” they're just standing there, staring at his statue. He notices a hydro slime bouncing towards them. Before Venti could react, they pick up the slime and start stretching and petting it vigorously, how is it not attacking them?
Is this what they call cuteness aggression? As you continue to do whatever you were doing to it, it’s not long before you notice it’s strange behaviour. The slime doesn't show any discomfort whatsoever. "It’s cute, but I wonder what a hydro slime is doing here?" Releasing the slime from your hands, a voice calls out behind you, "hey, you!" You turn to the voice. You see a girl wearing clothes that look similar to Amber’s, is this a cosplay? "Me?" you look around, "who else would I be referring to? Get away from the slime!" sounds like she's going to attack it. "Wait, but it’s not even hurting me," you attempt to negotiate with her, "I won't repeat myself!" She's not listening... “Amber, come on” she raises her bow, ah. It's not working.
Amber sees them scoop up the slime and start sprinting away from her, "get back here- wait, I never mentioned my name..." Amber shakes her head. "That’s weird, not only do they know my name, but the slime didn't attack them" her head swims with questions, “They look so similar to the creator too… I need to inform Jean about this" with that, she runs off.
Venti, witnessing all of this, starts laughing to himself. “Ah, I should chase after them.”
After a long period of running, you settle down somewhere behind a tree. Collapsing, you release the slime from your arms. "Oof... That took a while, I hope she didn’t chase after me," you lean against the tree, recalling the events that occurred, "it’s unbelievable, but I wish I was dreaming…" Pinching yourself, you confirm that you are in fact in Genshin. You let out a sigh. Your stomach grumbles, clenching your stomach, you contemplate how long it’ll take for you to walk to the city. “I’ll have to get there before the sun starts setting” Judging from where you were before, you’re probably somewhere in Windrise right now.
You stand up, preparing to start walking but a voice cuts through from behind. “Hello there,” your glance to the side, “I’m behind you” turning around, you see Venti right in your face. “Why are you here?” You step back, distancing yourself from him. “I came to see you, I saw what happened back there with Amber” he chuckles to himself after remembering what had happened. “My name is Venti, in case you didn’t know” you adjust your clothes, it feels awkward talking to him. “I’m [Name],” his smile falters, [Name]? “I’ll get going-” Venti suddenly grabs your shoulders, “are you trying to impersonate the creator?” Creator… What creator? There’s nothing like that stated in Genshin. “No, what are you talking about?” His grip tightens, your gut tells you to get away from him.
“Sorry, I need to go,” you attempt to take his hands off of you, but that only provokes him more. “What’s your real name?” Venti’s fingers dig into you, ouch. “I told you my real name,” feeling uncomfortable, you push him away. “I have nothing to do with this creator you speak of, it’s just a coincidence that we both have the same name” you rub your shoulders, “I’ll get going now, perhaps you’ll find them someday.”
As their figure becomes smaller, Venti sighs and leans back against a tree. Sure, he hasn’t seen their grace in a while, but their appearance makes him feel at a loss. It’s the way they act that’s different… Although, he feels a sense of comfort in their presence. Perhaps it's something else?
“Venti's never acted like that towards anyone before, it’s weird to see him in that kind of state” while you were busy stuck in your thoughts, you've already arrived at Mondstadt. The sound of pigeons flying snaps you out of your thoughts. Looking up, you see the gates in front of you. Oh, finally. Strolling through Mondstadt, you take in the scenery, admiring the buildings and atmosphere. “This takes me back, but I need to eat” you walk towards Good Hunter, wondering what to have. “Ehh, I'll just order everything I know.”
“Hello, what can I get for you?” Sara speaks up, “Can I get one of everything?” the npc stiffens, maybe that's too much... “everything?” you clear your throat, you didn't expect that kind of reaction. “Yes, everything…” she lets out a short chuckle, “alright, that'll be-” ah, you forgot about the money. Panic sets in so fast you start making up shit, “uh yeah, about that… You see, Amber actually told me beforehand that she'll pay for my meal” you cough, how lame. Sara gives you a confused look before nodding, “alright, I'll tell Amber about this when I see her” you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding, “I should hurry.”
You collect your meal and sit down on a nearby table, marveling at the food. “I've always wanted to try Genshin's food," you scarf down everything, your eyes light up, "it tastes better than I imagined."
Amber slams the door open, inside is the Acting Grand Master and Lisa in the middle of a conversation. Jean turns her attention towards the sudden guest, "Amber, please don't slam the door open" she straightens up, "I'm sorry Jean, but it's important! I'm not sure if it's really them but… I think I found the creator" Jean and Lisa both exchange glances before looking back at Amber. Lisa crosses her arms "are you sure it's them?" " Amber nods, "I'm sure" Jean paces around the room, "deploy a search team and alert Kaeya and Diluc," "I'm on it!" Amber rushes out of the room. She then turns to Lisa and sighs, "I really hope it's them, the last time their grace was seen was in Fontaine. Where they left abruptly..." Lisa steps towards Jean and puts a hand on her shoulder, "we'll see, don't feel so anxious about it. If it isn't them, you know we can always execute the imposter." Jean smiles at her reassurance. "Thank you."
A renowned duo enters Mondstadt, "Paimon wants food from Good Hunter!" “what would you like?" Aether's companion grins, "Fisherman's toast, two please!" "Of course" the two of them walk towards the restaurant. Aether steps up to the counter and withdraws mora from his inventory, ordering the food. Whilst Paimon floats to a table and notices you, and you notice her.
You look up at Paimon in the middle of eating. "Paimon?" the girl waves, "hello there! Wait, how do you know Paimon's name!?" She floats back. Her companion shows up with two toasts in his hand, "Paimon, what's going on?" she hurriedly floats back to Aether."This stranger knows my name!"
You give them a confused look, is it really that much of a shock that someone you don't know knows your name? Well... You suppose it is. It's not like you could tell them they're from a video game and that's how you know their name. Try to think of something to divert the situation, “uh... I've actually heard about you guys before, you're actually pretty well known." Paimon laughs in embarrassment, ”oh, hahaha... Thanks! Paimon didn't realize we were that famous" She takes the toast from her companion's hand and starts eating. Trying to cover up her embarrassment. That could've gone way worse.
Aether sits down at your table, "I'm Aether, you are?" You swallow the food, "[Name]" he pauses, his expression shifting. [Name]? He remembers Paimon mentioning something about Teyvat having a creator, and you happen to share the same name as them. "[Name], hm? Sounds familiar” familiar?, your name isn't really that common to sound familiar. "Yeah, so… What are you guys going to do later today?" You figured you needed to change the subject since the air was getting kind of awkward. "I was thinking about going to Liyue after this-” ah, Liyue, you wish you could come. If only teleport way points were usable… Actually, can you use them? "-do you want to come?"
If you think about it, following Aether would be a great choice since you'll be using a teleport way point to travel, and you should explore Teyvat since you're in the game. "Sure, I wouldn't mind" he smiles, but it's not reaching his eyes. "Great, then you'll need to stay with me," ...Uh, what an odd way to respond."I'll finish my food now..."
You glance down at the abundant of dishes in front of you. "But I don't think I can handle all of this" "Paimon would like to help!" "Oh, thanks a lot" you think it'll be best to give Paimon the rest.
"Do you mind finishing it? I'm not hungry anymore so don't worry about me taking it away" she beams at your request, "of course! I would love to..." Her voice gets low to a whisper, "uh... Your name was [Name], right?" You nod, confused about the sudden topic about your name. "Yeah, what about it?" Paimon floats closer to you, "your features..." Oh, you know where this is going. "Let's go before the sun comes down" you abruptly stand up before taking Aether's hand and starts walking at a fast pace. You can't have another conversation about this...
"Huh? Okay" Paimon floats back, creating distance between the two of you. She starts to get suspicious. How weird... They look similar to the creator and they both share the same name too. This is way too much of a coincidence... Oh, but Paimon refrains from asking question, this topic is too heavy anyways. "Wait up!" She calls out before following after them.
Aether's face carries a faint blush at their touch. They're holding his hand... The sensation causes him to feel a warmth in his chest. Oh how he would love to jump in your bones right now. "Uh, [Name], do you know where you're going?"
As you were walking, Aether's question snaps you out of your trance. You're soon aware that you're holding his hand and let go. "Sorry, I just felt restless" the loss of contact disappoints him but he immediately smiles afterwards. "That's fine," Aether glances at the sky, "let's get going" you nod at his suggestion. Off to Liyue!