A rush of voices, endless clashing and thudding…
A timeless, perfect face with golden eyes…
A whispered apology, a tear falling from the eyes…
A golden barrier, impeding all attempts to save him…
An extremely large explosion, vaporising all monsters…
A limp figure, falling to the ground…
Desperate attempts to reach him, to revive him, to keep him alive…
The body fading into stars…
Aether… Aether…
"Aether!" Keqing sat upright in bed, her hand reaching out to someone who was millions of miles away. She looked around, momentarily confused. It was nighttime in her room in Liyue. The incident she had countless nightmares about was two months ago. She barely got any sleep over it, the incident always haunting her throughout the night and the day.
She sat there for a few minutes, catching her breath and calming down. She had only recently been able to stop herself from breaking down nightly and crying her eyes and heart out. She missed him terribly. She wanted to wake up, safe in his arms, chatting and doing work together, enjoying themselves when their work was done. All her dreams, her future plans with Aether, destroyed by those stupid Abyss Mages.
She decided to go for a walk. Who cares if it was midnight? She certainly didn't. The most infamous gang in Liyue was locked up, so she had nothing to fear. She changed into more casual clothes, and strolled outside.
It was a quiet night. Almost all of the stalls and shops were closed, so she more or less had the streets to herself. Except for some hooded figure, hovering at the edge of her vision, but what did she care? If he made any attempts to harm her, the millelith would stop them, immediately. She glanced back at it, only to notice that they were gone. "That was weird. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on my brain," she thought. She'd taken a walk outside for long enough. She needed to get her sleep or else she'd wake up even more tired than before, and wouldn't get much work done.
As she walked back to her apartment, she noticed the figure again, standing on the balcony, apparently taking in the fresh air. They weren't threatening Keqing, so she put him out of her mind. As she went back to her apartment, she changed back into sleepwear, and fell back into bed, sleepier than before.
Consequently, sleep meant more dreams. She visited the place where her story with Aether started. It was nighttime, the sky dotted with stars. A lone figure sitting on the cliff, looking down, swinging their legs. Only, the figure didn't look like Aether. Two long ribbons trailed from their back, with the top part of their back exposed. It did look familiar, however. Keqing decided to try.
"Aether?" she asked. The figure on the cliff turned to her, startled. It wasn't Aether. It was Lumine, his sister. The same golden eyes, but different hairstyle and features all together. "How did you get here?" Keqing asked in surprise. Lumine looked a little taken aback.
"I could ask you the same thing," she replied, a little confused. "This is our thinking spot in this world. Aether's and mine. I've been hoping to contact him in my dreams, but…" she shook her head. "Why would he avoid this place? Unless it's you that's been dragging him off course?" she fixed him with an accusatory glare.
"Maybe it's… it's... " Keqing couldn't say the words. It would be too depressing, and she didn't want to accept it. She was still fighting her internal battle of whether to tell his sister the truth, when Lumine found out for herself. Her reaction was surprising, however.
"Oh. He's dead, isn't he?" Lumine asked, her eyes tinged with a slight humor. "No wonder he hasn't been showing up."
"How can you take this so calmly? He's your brother!" Keqing said, disbelievingly.
"Oh, it doesn't matter," Lumine said, shrugging. "We've died plenty of times before. We just get sent to some sort of limbo, golden clouds everywhere, we can do whatever we want. Usually, the God of the world we visit brings us back, but if there isn't a God handy, then we can come back on our own power in about a few months. You came here to see him, I guess? Go, visit him. Tell him hello from me." Lumine waved her hand, and the landscape changed.
She appeared in a place that had a solid ground, but the ground was invisible. Lots of clouds masked her feet, and when she walked, there wasn't any sound. There were ruins here and there, with a lot of trees with golden leaves swaying in the breeze. She looked around, a bit confused. There weren't any borders as far as she could see, but no sign of Aether. Wasn't the worst place to be sent to when you died, she supposed.
She walked in one direction, admiring everything around. The golden trees were huge, and the clouds rolled in every direction. She saw one tree, taller than the rest. She made toward it, her eyes fixed on a dot on the highest branch. As she got closer, she saw who she longed to see for such a long time.
"Aether!" she called, looking up, daring fate to contradict her. Probably blasphemy, but hey, she hadn't seen him in forever, and missed him terribly.
Up in the tree, Aether's eyes widened. He never expected her to find this place. He dropped down from the branch, landing in front of her. She was just as gorgeous as he remembered, with her amethyst eyes and her flowing purple hair. They looked at each other, still for a moment, before the tension broke. They both ran forward at the same time, dashing toward each other. Once they reached each other, Keqing grabbed Aether's face and they locked lips, tongues fighting for dominance. In this battle, there could only be one victor. Aether may have been better in weaponry combat, but Keqing was winning this battle.
Aether, resigning himself to his fate, stopped fighting and let Keqing win. This time, at least. Keqing had only stopped her onslaught when she felt like she was getting light-headed. When she pulled away, both her and Aether's face were red, but they were smiling all the while. Aether cupped Keqing's cheek under his hand. "I never thought I'd-" he began to say. He was cut short, however, when Keqing flipped him over onto his back, straddled him, and pushed her forearm onto his neck. "I swear," she said, tears filling her eyes and trembling, whether from sadness or anger, Aether didn't know. "If you ever leave me like that again, I swear to all the gods in every single world-" she started, eyes stinging with tears. She was interrupted by Aether, however.
"I won't, I promise," he laughed. "I missed you a lot too. The reason everything is actually taking so long is because I'm being prevented. It won't stop me forever. I don't know who is doing it, but it's probably that unknown god. I should be strong enough to come back, in, what, a couple more days? I'll appear close to you, so look out for that."
Keqing smiled, lay down on top of him and kissed him again. She really could spend forever in this position, assuming she didn't die of thirst. Two months of nightmares, and finally a dream. Like before, they spent so long in that position, Keqing couldn't even count the time passed. She basically curled up beside him, dozing off but not fully asleep, enough to feel at complete peace, having some well-deserved rest, while also savouring the fact that she was here with Aether. She snuggled deeper into his chest, sighing in bliss. She missed this feeling all too much.
"Your sister says hello," she murmured, still snuggling into his chest. Aether smiled. "Tell her I said hello back," he said.
Keqing felt Aether's arms wrap around her, warm, protecting, and loving. Even if this was just a dream, it was an amazing dream, and she didn't want to wake up. Eventually, she was lulled asleep by the warmth of his arms and the knowledge that Aether would still be able to come back. Also the fact that they had shared their most passionate kiss ever. She loved it. Once she woke, she woke back up in her room, arms around Aether's blanket. Yes, he'd left it behind, and she took it. She left the two dishes with the Knights, although taking a lot of it to share with Ningguang, Ganyu, and her secretaries, as well as her assistants. All agreed that they were extremely good.
She got out of bed and stretched, glancing at Aether's banner that she hung up, with his portable waypoint underneath. She touched the banner reverently, with the orb lighting up golden very briefly. After that, it reverted back to its black state, with a shining dot of gold in the middle. She smiled, slipped the golden waypoint into her pocket, got up and left for work.
As she sat down at her desk, she placed Aether's little waypoint down and got to work. A lot of land requests for building. That was it. The reason stated for the land grant was "building." She thought this somewhat suspicious, so she looked into it further. Most people would write at least what they were building. Whether it was a mine, a small village, a warehouse, it would still be stated. She looked at the name of the sender. It was the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour. Keqing thought this strange, so she put it aside to ask Zhongli later.
The next ask was to reinhabit the abandoned places where ore veins had run dry in hopes of finding more. She looked over the terms that they asked, and it was relatively simple. The ability to build more houses, fine. Reinhabit the old ones, sure. Some guards in case they run into monsters? Alright. She allowed the ask quickly, knowing it was a simple one.
The next one was interesting. It was from Mondstadt, coming from the Acting Grand Master. Jean wanted to send a few of the Knights over to Liyue to learn their fighting style, using a polearm. She was wondering if she could have something like a small barracks built so some of the Millelith who were interested in using swords could learn as well. It wasn't a big ask, so she allowed it. After this, she headed to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour to ask Zhongli about the land ask.
When she got to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, she was let in by the Ferrylady. As she walked into the hall, she was met by Zhongli.
"Ah, hello Ms. Keqing. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Keqing showed him the document, asking for "building".
"Ah," Zhongli said, brought up short. "Terribly sorry about that. Hu Tao wants to use that small area for a newer funeral house, as in her words, 'The Wangsheng Funeral Parlour is getting smaller by the minute.' I consented to look over the document, but I must have missed something."
Keqing scrutinized him worriedly. "You're always so strict and always have everything done immaculately. How did you miss something this time?"
"Just… memories," Zhongli said evasively. Keqing noticed he was doodling on a piece of paper. On it was a drawing that looked similar to a mini meteor that he summoned while idle, but surrounded with the white energy that created his spear. It was captioned, "Memory of Dust." Underneath that, were the words "Teach with wisdom, be bound by virtue, fortify the bones, unite in ambition," and "To unite in ambition is to be steadfast and immovable for all time." "Wisdom is like water, it nourishes all those who receive it and in it is a reflection of the truth."' "Fortify the bones, that movement be supple when the time comes." "Virtue grows tall like a tree, though there be shade it will flourish forever."
She looked at Zhongli questioningly, and he simply sighed sadly. He pulled out the stone he was drawing, and Keqing realized it was a Catalyst. What she didn't understand is why Zhongli looked so sad while holding it. She wasn't sure she wanted to find out. She told Zhongli that she would accept the approval, and left. Zhongli, however, still held the stone, turning it over in his hands, trying to fight back tears, while her words still echoed in his mind. Her billowing sleeves, her joyful smile. He tried to fight back the memories, but they surfaced all the same.
"This is the mark of our pledge, and it is also my challenge to you. All my wisdom is hidden in this stone dumbbell."
That pledge no longer existed, it had been ended thousands of years ago. He looked outside the window, seeing, but not seeing.
"Those little people are as small and as fragile as dust. Because they are so small, they know not when they will lose their lives to disaster or strife, and so they are afraid. Because they are afraid, they try so hard to become more intelligent. This I understand. So I thought that since there is such a gulf between us in strength, I should use technique and wisdom instead. With your brawn and my brains, this city will surely become a great one."
But that city was long gone. It wasn't recorded in many history books, and only one person in this city remembered the events so harshly, so clearly. He closed his hand around that catalyst, tears falling from his eyes, as that final quote that came to him with crystal clarity, whispered from her lips as she faded into dust.
"It seems our journey together has come to an end. As for that stone dumbbell, forget about it, would you?"
But he would not forget. He could not forget. He would perform the Rite to his very best, owing it to her. If her human form no longer existed, then her story ran through his veins. He would do his duty to the very end, then after that, follow her into eternal peace.
Hi everyone, thanks for continuing to read my fanfiction up to this far. I've got a few important things to say. First off, I'd like to credit those who inspired me to begin this fanfiction. Secondly, I'd like to put out which stories inspired me to keep writing and the stories I enjoyed, and thirdly, a question.
1. A huge thank you to rikotch and qrntnwrtr for making their stories that inspired me. Here are those stories, and you should read them too!
- "A starlit bridge built by our hands" - rikotch
- "Trulla Cementarii" - rikotch
- "A Place in the Stars" - qrntnwrtr
- "Lost Boy" - qrntnwrtr
2. Another huge thank you to the stories that I enjoyed, and/or inspired some different chapters in the story!
- "A starlit bridge built by our hands" - rikotch
- "Trulla Cementarii" - rikotch
- "From X to Y" - rikotch
- "Rust" - rikotch
- "Lost Boy" - qrntnwrtr
- "A Place in the Stars" - qrntnwrtr
- "Seelie" - JessWritesWasTaken (DreamWasTaken reference?)
- "Frosty Feelings: Qiqi's saviour" - Moegetaku
- "Our Cruel Fate" - SentryForge223
Lastly, a question. I want to write about the Liyue Archon quest, but I kind of fucked up the storyline. I've already mentioned that Zhongli "tricked" everyone, meaning that he's already faked his death. However, I did not mention the Rite starting, or the Childe boss fight starting. Should I just add a transition in the next chapter, or rewrite some of the previous chapters? Either PM me or leave a review.
Hope you enjoyed!