If you don't like long stories, then you probably shouldn't read this. Fluff's at the end, and it takes a while for them to get together, so don't expect many cutesy scenes until near the end. In a way, this is a rewrite of 'A Place in the Stars', so expect some similar scenes popping up. Anyway, this is an AU but it's still Teyvat.

Lost Boy

Part 1: The Road to Sumeru

Day 1

Aether. His name was associated with many different things, all of which were impressive. He was the Honorary Knight of Favonius, the Saviour of Mondstadt, and the rookie star of the Adventurers' Guild. Yeah, he was pretty famous – considering that once news got out that he was in Liyue, locals had practically scrambled on top of one another to catch even just a glimpse of him, of his long, blond hair which tied into a braid, of the sword he held which shone in the sunlight like a weapon from Celestia itself, of those – as they say – dark, disturbing eyes.

He rarely talked, easily – if not recognised – associated with a timid, quiet passerby. But of course, those impressions would quickly be batted away should they look at him closely, at the ever-present blood on his face, small or large. Those impressions, like birds escaping a tree, would disappear once they saw his muscles – and more importantly, the boy's strength. It was uncanny. Pair that with his lifeless, unapproachable expression and you end up with a highly feared boy – though 'man' would be a better word.

Some would start fights in the middle of the street, the spark being an argument of just how strong Aether really was. After all, he had soared through the ranks of the guild, swiftly earning a spot as a strong adventurer, on the same level as (if not better than) Fischl. Of course, Cyrus was better than him. No one could ever replace the Mondstadt branch master of the Adventurer's Guild, or so Lynn said.

He defeated Stormterror, giving back the freedom that Mondstadt always took for granted, moving to the next city without so much as a sweat. Okay, that may have been an exaggeration, but the blond was strong nonetheless. That was the main point. Master Diluc, though he would never admit, was slightly fond of Aether – the unofficial assistant of the Darknight Hero, an unknown yet still impressive title.

Following the boy wherever he went was the ever so enthusiastic Paimon, known by at least more than half of Mondstadt – and it wasn't wrong to say that she and the traveller were complete opposites. Many had trouble wondering as to how they had managed to befriend one another. It was a mystery. Though unable to beat the beloved idol Barbara, the Deaconess of the Favonius Church, the girl was still popular – very much so.

Having finished their adventures, sure to be remembered by the citizens for centuries, just like the story of Vanessa, next was Liyue. The media had never once thought of attempting to get an interview from him (the courageous journalists were yet to come), so getting to Liyue was fairly easy. With no distractions, he and Paimon managed to reach the harbour in 5 days. Within a week, people had been aware that the alleged 'Saviour of Mondstadt' had come to their town, and it, combined with the commissions, requests, and bounties he completed, made his reputation skyrocket.

By the second week, as he was waiting for Rex Lapis' arrival, Aether had become very well known to the point where some had begun to talk if he was to be a special guest included in the Rite of Descension, having the privilege of standing alongside the Tianquan Ningguang herself. With his reputation, Aether might be able to meet the higher-ups in Liyue, somehow get a talk with Morax himself, and if it worked in this city, who is to say that it will not in the next?

Today, Katheryne was outside of the receptionist desk, which was odd, and standing beside Lan, the branch master for Liyue, or – as he liked to call her – the Unseen Razor woman. Having realised his presence, both women cut off the conversation, turning around, the signature smile Katheryne always wore still plastered to her face.

An air of professionalism the likes of which Aether had yet to sense from Lan surrounded her. "Greetings, traveller," the branch master said, "With your recent exploits, Liyue has acknowledged your strength. If you do not know, high-ranked adventurers such as yourself may come across difficult, more professional, commissions – and you, should you choose to accept, are delivered with the task to escort the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing to Sumeru on a business trip. Of course, you will be paid a hefty amount of mora."

Paimon grinned widely, impressed with the grand opportunity as she gradually voiced out a cross between a 'whoa' and a 'wow'. Finally, it seemed, his reputation had become useful. Aether had a chance to meet the Qixing, and the Yuheng was well-known in Liyue, having performed the Rite of Descension last year, where she had made her famous speech. She was, as people put it, a sceptic.

"So," Lan clapped her hands, the professionalism from before disappearing in an instant, "do you agree?"

Aether, of course, agreed, nodding his head.

He didn't know what the Yuheng looked like, even if many in Liyue talk about the sceptic, and Lan informed him that she was a girl about his age – something that had nearly made the boy lose his footing, for how could such a young woman be a major business dealer key to Liyue – and that the person in question possessed twin-tails, and vibrant purple hair.

"Besides, you'll know who she is even without the descriptions I've told you about," Aether remembered Lan say.

Paimon tapped Aether's shoulder, pointing in the direction of a person surrounded by a few men dressed in clothing slightly differing from the average person's wear, "Over there!" However, he had already caught sight of her long ago.

And it turns out Lan was right. The first thing Aether noticed were her clothes – quite extravagant and easy to spot, what with the colour matching her hair. If you were to put the lady in a crowd full of a thousand normal citizens, Aether was convinced he could pick her out from among them. Her clothes were more flashy than the Tianquan's, and with the purple hair she had – the lengthy twin-tails going past her thin waist – it made her stand out more than he could ever imagine.

Put a child in front of her, and they'd easily be able to discern the importance of the woman. The fabric of her clothes was rare, especially the material of which her overcoat was made of. Silk was a very sought-after type of material in the fashion business, or so he had heard.

Once the group of men had dispersed, Aether walked over to the Yuheng, standing by the doors of Yuehai Pavillion, taking a glance at her watch before having noticed him approaching.

"Ah, so you've come," she bowed, with Aether following in accordance. Paimon, however, greeted Keqing with an enthusiastic grin, waving her hands like a child. Maybe she was a child, Aether had never bothered to ask.

"Hello, lady!"

The young woman replied with a small wave of her own, a small smile gracing her features for a fleeting moment, "For accepting the request, you have my gratitude. Traveller, and fairy, you may refer to me as Keqing."

"I'm not a fairy, but," he could hear Paimon mutter under her breath, "ok!"

Heading out by Mt Tianheng, the three made their way towards Sumeru, walking along the path to Dunyu Ruins. He had asked Lan why they weren't using horses and was explained that the terrain would be too difficult for the animals. There was also the case of monsters – not long after did they see a group of five hilichurls.

Paimon had warned him, and his first instinct was to charge at them, sword materialising in his hand, anemo forming in his other, but just before he had a chance to strike the creatures, from the corner of his eye, Keqing had swooped in.

"You–!"

She quickly beheaded the monsters cleanly with just her sword – her arm swiftly slashing the weapon down and proceeding to a sudden stop, the blood staining the blade coming right off; there wasn't a lot, to begin with.

"You have no need to," Keqing flatly said, referring to the headless monsters, blood spilling – spurting – from their necks (currently turning to ash as well as the rest of the body) and colouring the ground red. "I shall take care of it."

"Woah, lady!" Paimon flew over to her, "You've got good moves. If you could protect yourself, how come you wanted to request us?"

"Reasons," she said, "and I have told you to refer to me as Keqing." Her sword dematerialised as soon as she let go of the hilt, turning back. Aether followed suit, realising that just below the nape of her neck, a strange-shaped pendant hung – an electro vision.

Aether went over Lan's words once more: "And you, should you choose to accept, are delivered with the task to escort the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing to Sumeru on a business trip."

It was simple, really. Upon accepting the request, he and Paimon were given a map – courtesy of Katheryne – with a red line showing them the way to the city of nature. They were to follow the path that led to Dunyu Ruins, before Passing through Tianqiu Valley – where a ruin guard might be – and heading North to Cijue Slope.

After that, Qingce Village was the next location, and Wangshu Inn was along the way if they needed a break. After passing the river with a boat, they would be in Sumeru – but not the city itself. Luckily, after crossing the river, it would all be flat land – the quickest part of the journey.

Escorting Miss Keqing to Sumeru would take approximately 5 days.

And Aether, for the first time since he had woken up, had never felt so much frustration build up within him. To be precisely blunt, she was in his way – dashing all of a sudden to defeat hilichurls that Aether had been planning to take care of once they had gotten close enough. He was given the task – a quite honourable and admirable task, apparently – to escort a young woman who may not have the mental capacity to follow a plan.

On a scale of 1 to 10, he'd put her annoyance – and Aether was being very realistic – at a 6.5.

What if she were to get injured? The blame would be put on him. All of them would, with no hesitation whatsoever, be pointing their fingers straight at him. His reputation would sink, and Aether's hopes of talking to the Geo Archon would be in tatters.

Aether's plans were simple: don't get in my way, and don't get yourself hurt. Of course, he would not be so foolish to say it in such a rude manner, using whatever experience he had with formal conversations to say, "Please stay close to my side, Lady Yuheng, and in case creatures attack – please do stay away from the danger. It would not do if one of the Qixing were injured in my care."

And she responded with, "I am only doing what needs to be done for the journey to go as fast as possible. I believe it is my obligation, as a capable fighter, to aid you in battle."

Her excuses were easily able to cut down any of his attempts of getting her to stop fighting. Even when he – for just a minute – decided to support her, she would ignore all of it, giving him a quick glare that only skilled fighters could catch as if to say 'Go away'. Simply because she was part of the Qixing, and the Qixing was valuable to Aether, so he couldn't simply outright take away her weapon.

"I have been tasked with protecting you, Lady Yuheng, and that is what I shall do." Aether had barely noticed it, but a slight tinge of venom was evident in his voice.

"And I have told you, traveller, that I shall take care of it. And have I not said for you to refer to me as Keqing, traveller?" The Yuheng's voice was the same. Elegantly pushing her hair back, seemingly flaunting her victory, the young woman walked past him. It was... annoying. Such a feeling hadn't been inside him for some time. As long as he viewed her as important, and she did as well, then it would be futile for him to fight back.

"I have lived my whole life here, so I should be the one who is more experienced in dealing with these foul creatures."

Paimon – being Paimon – struggled to understand a single word either of them said. Her face reminded Aether of Amber's face when she tried to dumb-down the contents of the gliding manual to both of them in Mondstadt. However, she continued looking at the sky, most likely having the time of her life floating mid-air, doing nothing all day.

Within a few minutes of talking with the young woman, Paimon had changed from calling her 'lady' to 'Keqing'.

"So Lady Keqing, what are you gonna do in Sumeru? I mean, aside from business and all that."

"I do not need anything else aside from the matters I must attend to." Keqing continued to stare straight ahead, most probably on the lookout for more enemies she could recklessly run to, "Trivial matters such as fun are not something I can afford."

"So you gotta be really busy then, huh?" Her shoulders sunk in disappointment, a genuine frown visible on her small face. Of course, the only way Aether could've seen the frown – something that did not happen so often, it was a sight to behold – was by turning around. Paimon looked his way, mouthing 'Sticky Honey Roast' whilst her hands made a gesture of a large circle. He took that to mean that Paimon's hopes of the Yuheng treating her to food to be gone.

"Don't worry, Paimon will make sure you're super relaxed with us so you're ready for your business meeting!" Paimon puffed out her chest proudly. Maybe she really was a kid – and by the way Keqing acted soon after, she must have thought the same, too. Ignoring Aether's glances at both of them, she gave Paimon a tiny smile back, patting her snow-white hair which had shone more brightly than usual thanks to the clear weather.

"I'm sure you've already done that, Paimon."

Having left at 10:00, the sun was only active for a few hours for the first day of their journey – Liyue was in the middle of the winter. Assuming that the sun went down at 5, it meant they had about 7 hours before Aether needed to be on his full guard; monsters tended to be more active after nightfall. And since he was in Liyue, where all the hilichurls used much more durable and harder shields that were made of stone compared to wood in Mondstadt, the difficulty would be harder.

If they continued at the pace they were going at, reaching Cijue slope would take 3 hours. They had been walking for 4 hours, including the time it took defeating hilichurls that they managed to pass by, so the pace they were at was decent. Right now, they were approaching Tianqiu Valley, and just as Katheryne had said, there would be a possibility of a Ruin Guard lying dormant. And in front of them, slumped down, a wooden machine sat.

"Don't–"

The young woman once again dashed, it's yellow eye lighting up. Aether, having given up, for now, ran up to the guard alongside Keqing, his annoyance rising for the millionth time.

However, Keqing was – compared to her – much more tolerable, but Aether could not help but notice their similarities – as much as he hoped not to.

Defeating the ruin guard at Tianqiu valley was fairly easy. However, it felt as if Aether was fighting against Keqing more so than the actual enemy who had been shooting missiles into their faces. No sooner had its eye lit up had the Yuheng begun to slash at its knees. Aether had run, parrying the attack that she was about to perform, "Please do abide by my request, Miss Keqing, otherwise you may injure your self."

"I don't require your assistance."

Keqing had easily slipped past, slicing the oncoming missiles with ease. Maybe she was cocky, but Keqing never used her vision, never once using an electro attack that could very well defeat the guard in just a couple of strikes. His anemo power had no use against something as heavy as the guard, so it would be much more efficient and quick to use her vision. After all, the young woman had said that she was doing what needed to be done for the journey to go as fast as possible.

"Miss Keqing's so cool! Yeah, defeat it!" Paimon, at a safe distance, clapped for Keqing's performance, unaware that she was only encouraging what Aether did not want the most.

The ruin guard, with one foot raised in the air, was about to stomp on the ground when Aether – as quick as he could – sliced the limb, instantly making it lose balance. He tried again, albeit with much more force, "I am afraid I will have to ask you to step back, Miss Keqing."

Her sword came up, with Aether briskly putting it down with his own, feeling her push back as a scowl formed on her face.

"Traveller, I need no help in protecting myself. Perhaps it is you who should be protected."

"Um... hello?" Paimon seemed nervous.

Keqing's eyes glanced above. More specifically, to the ruin guard crawling just behind him. Aether dashed out of the way, but before he managed to grab Keqing's hand, she had slipped away for the second time – jumping on top of the ruin guard and piercing the light with a thrust of her sword. Dusting herself off, Keqing smiled at Aether – albeit a cheeky one. "Well then," she hummed, "shall we get going?"

His eye twitched in annoyance, heaving out a frustrated sigh under his breath. Letting go of his weapon, the blond followed after Keqing as Paimon appeared behind his back soon.

"Umm... you guys all right?" She honestly looked like someone who had gotten in the middle of a fight by accident, squeezing her arms to her sides as she continued to go forward in between them, thumbs tucked into her fists.

Keqing turned her head back, facing the two of them. "I believe we are very much fine. Traveller?"

"...Mm." To be honest, he couldn't say anything else.

Facts were facts and Aether was compelled to admit that Keqing was strong. Despite not using her vision, she managed to defeat the ruin guard single-handedly, and all the boy had managed to do was take away one leg from it. Of course, he doubted she would tell anyone of his poor job so far – Keqing had no intent to care since the beginning, but it was hurting his pride nonetheless. Aether looked weak and, most important of all, irrelevant. If she didn't realise his worth, Aether may not have the chance to ask her a favour that could increase his progress of finding his sister.

Activating his wings and flying to where he pleased was not an option anymore – at least not yet.

Keqing may not have given picking an escort much importance, but to him, it was everything. To take an opportunity and hold it tight was something that he had learned over the few years he had travelled with Lumine – for once it slipped, the consequences one could face may very well be dire.

"Miss Keqing, please state your reasons for picking an escort if you do not need for one," Aether interrupted a most passionate conversation about Golden Shrimp Balls Paimon and the Yuheng were having.

The young woman, without glancing back at him – still searching for more hilichurls – replied, "I had been forced into making a choice. At least I had a choice, so I decided to pick someone who felt competent enough, yet unimportant enough – I do not mean any offence – to damage my reputation should they complain about my ways. And having seen you out and about sometimes, it was the best decision to pick you, seeing as you didn't seem to be one to make a fuss."

So... he was unimportant...

Perhaps despite being fairly popular with the common folk, Aether was – compared to the Qixing – only a tiny bug. He had figured a while back, but it was a surprise to know that his efforts had only done so much. But on the bright side, Aether didn't tend to look on the bright side, he had a considerable amount of mora which had originated from countless requests and the like, and at least the Qixing took notice.

Aether said no more.

The sun had set, and the trio set up camp in Cijue Slope, on the mountains near Jueyun Karst. Apparently, the Yuheng would need to attend to some business with the Tianquan at Wangshu Inn. Keqing, materialising a backpack in hand, pulled out a tent, easily setting it up and inviting Paimon to come in. Aether stuck with his most trusty companions as of late: the trunk of a tree and the cool grass, a massive improvement compared to the bloodied ground he laid on a few months ago – if it was a few months ago.

The cool air swept his face, swaying grass tickling the back of his hand, a nostalgic sigh escaping his dry lips.

I've just gotta keep pushing...