In many worlds, there exists the concept of soulmates. It was said that the bonds of soulmates traverse beyond the stars and the proof of their bonds were written down on their wrists. That was the tale that Aether and Lumine had grown up with.
From the day the twins were born, their wrists were adorn with two different foreign names. The words were not from any language of their world, evidence of their destiny to traverse among the sea of stars. Aether would always spend his days staring at the strange characters on his left wrist, guessing what the name could be and what his soulmate would look like.
"One day, when you both find your soulmates, remember that we always love you and we're all proud of you."
The twins left their homeworld with their parents' words in their hearts and the wings that took them to the next world.
The subsequent years after that were spent travelling from one world to the next. And yet, in the many worlds the twins had been in, none of their soulmates were in them. Despite that, the twins never gave up searching. It was only when they arrived in a world named Teyvat, that they were forced to give up their search. It was no fault of their own, a god had sealed them and forced them apart, sending the twins back into the world when they tried to flee its destruction.
When Aether woke up an indescribable amount of time later, he found himself alone, his sister gone and suddenly, finding his soulmate was no longer one of his priorities.
Paimon showed up in his life shortly after, the meeting as strange as the person herself, but in exchange for saving her life, Paimon agreed to help Aether find his lost sister. The first step, apparently, was to learn one of the many languages of Teyvat, the first of those being the windborne language of Mondstadt.
"Do you recognise this language?" Aether asked, pulling his glove off to show his soulmark to his new friend.
"Oh! This looks like ancient Liyuen! Paimon can't decipher it because Paimon only knows modern Liyuen but maybe we can ask one of the adepti in Liyue how to read it."
According to Paimon, soulmates were commonplace in the world of Teyvat. She told him that in Teyvat, the name of the soulmate would be engraved upon the person's wrist from the day they were born and until the day they met their soulmate, they would always feel a connection to them. Through the connection, the soulmates would be able to share any and all feelings of what they feel of each other.
"But I don't feel anything from my soulmate and I've been in Teyvat for a while now," Aether said, frowning as he looked down at the foreign characters on his wrist.
"It has to be feelings that are related to your soulmate! But Paimon thinks that maybe it might be different for you because you're not from Teyvat."
Internally, Aether disagreed with her but the implications meant that not once had his soulmate thought of him and Aether had no idea how to feel about it.
"Hoh, to think that you would be the one he long forgone. You made him wait centuries with no one but memories. But it's no fault of yours or him, fate and destiny are cruel in its whims."
"Venti, do you know who my soulmate is?"
"Now that would be telling!"
Aether and Paimon left Mondstadt behind, a city saved but nowhere closer to finding his missing sister. They left for the next country, Liyue, to attend the Rite of Descension where Aether might meet the Archon who ruled the land to ask of his sister's whereabouts and the god who trapped them in this world. Liyue was also the home of many adepti, one who might be able to read the name etched upon Aether's wrist. Somewhere in his mind, Aether was trying to set aside his feelings that his soulmate was most likely residing somewhere in Liyue and Aether has no idea what to think about that fact.
However, when Liyue's Archon was found dead and Aether found himself suddenly planning for an Archon's funeral, everything related to his original plans turned into ashes. Things were starting to get out of hand again and Aether found that he had to remind himself that he was doing this to find his sister and his soulmate.
He had ventured to various locations in Liyue, seeking out adepti to inform them of their Archon's passing. However, as soon as Aether showed them the name etched upon his wrist, every single one immediately became cold to him. Aether did not understand why and none of them were willing to interact with him long enough for him to ask. The messages had been delivered but Aether constantly found himself fleeing from the adepti's abode, all because of the accursed name on his wrist.
The final adeptus Aether needed to deliver the message to, lived on the roof of an inn and he hoped that the adeptus would not resort to violence in a public place. Once he passed the message to the adeptus, he was more than ready to return to Liyue Harbour and move on to the next part of the funeral.
(Who was Aether kidding? Someone by the title of Conqueror of Demons probably would not care about the location when they decide to execute him.)
Aether went up to the roof with Paimon by his side and found no one there. The tension Aether felt seeped away once he saw no danger and he stepped forward until he leaned against the railing to admire the view of Liyue. He pulled off his left glove to examine his soulmark, wondering where his soulmate could be. It was then that Aether heard a soft tap on the floorboard behind him, making Aether turn around quickly to confront the person. The person looked human but Aether could feel the aura they emitted. Aether swallowed thickly, his eyes glanced back at the railing. If all hell broke loose, he could take the chance and glide down from the balcony. Paimon would keep up with him but Aether hoped that the Conqueror of Demons would be feeling amicable enough to let him escape.
However, before Aether could so much as open his mouth to speak, the adeptus grabbed hold of Aether's hand, the grip almost crushing as he held the hand to reveal the name written on Aether's wrist.
"You-!? You dare to show yourself now?" the Conqueror of Demons growled deeply.
The grip was getting tighter and more painful but in the midst of that, Aether felt a sudden inexplicable surge of anger rising up in him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, let go!" Aether shouted as he tried to pull his hand out of the adeptus' hold.
Paimon was shouting at the adeptus to release her friend and she tried to physically remove the adeptus' hand to no avail. The adeptus continued to ignore her, as if her presence made no difference to him.
"Do you even know the name written on your wrist? Do you even know who it is?" the Conqueror of Demons asked as he shook Aether's hand in his grip.
"I don't know, I can't read it! Let go!" Aether shouted, his heart beating in fear and desperation to free himself.
Like a switch being flicked, Aether fell to the ground as the Conqueror of Demons released his grip. Paimon fluttered to Aether's side worriedly, bravely putting herself between her friend and the adeptus just in case the latter might try something.
"Alatus, that is the name of your soulmate. He died, suffering in loneliness, killed by the master who enslaved and torture him. His only wish was to meet his soulmate and he died without ever fulfilling it. And now, you dare to show your face? Leave and never come back!"
Aether quickly threw himself over the railing and opened his glider to glide down, trusting Paimon to follow after him. Tears fell out as he glided and kept falling even as he ran away. He ran until he collapsed beside a waypoint while Paimon stayed beside him as he tried to pull himself together from that revelation.
"Aether…"
"He's lying, he has to be. If my soulmate is dead, the name would be gone but it's not."
"But why? Why would he be lying?"
"The thing is Paimon," Aether said, pushing down the bubble of hysterical laughter threatening to fall out. "He was telling the truth."
"Huh? Paimon doesn't get it."
"It's okay, I know who my soulmate is," Aether said as he pulled his legs together, hugging his thighs tightly with his right arm, as he forced himself to ignore the feelings that threatened to drown him. He let his bruised left arm fall to the ground, wrist down, so he would not accidentally catch sight of the accursed name on it.
"Oh, then we should go look for them!"
"We can't," Aether said, closing his eyes and resting his head on his knees. "We can't, Paimon. He doesn't want me and I don't think I can change his mind. I can't fix this Paimon, I can't. How do you fix something that is already broken to begin with?"
(Neither of them slept well that night.)
Aether never looked at his soulmark after that. He bought a plain cloth wrap in the city and when he returned to the inn, he stared at the name on his wrist one last time before he covered it up, vowing never to let light grace his soulmark ever again. Paimon watched his actions in silence, saddened at his decision but understanding of why he did it.
As the two continued to help with the preparations, Aether was now forced to endure the judgemental stares from the public as their eyes were drawn to his covered wrist. His glove had been lost during his escape and his covered wrist was now exposed for the world to see. Some were openly gossiping in front of him, speculating the reasons why he would reject his soulmate. Others would look at him with judgemental stares, their voice silent but their eyes weighing down heavily as they cast their views on him. Aether endured all of it, the open stares, the nasty gossip, the lies borned from the gossip. He endured it all. But behind closed doors, Aether let his tears fall.
He cried for the soulmate who rejected him, he cried for not being there when his soulmate needed him, he cried for a bond broken due to his ignorance. He cried and only Paimon was there to witness it.
"After this, let's go somewhere else, somewhere far away from Liyue," Aether said as he gripped his covered wrist tightly.
"...Okay," Paimon said, watching her friend sadly.
Aether made plans with Paimon on where to go after Liyue. Should they head over to Inazuma? But their borders are closed and it would be far more difficult to go there from Mondstadt compared to Liyue. Should they go to Sumeru? But they needed to cross half of Liyue to get to the road leading to Sumeru. What about Fontaine? It was even further from Sumeru from where they were.
In the end, it did not matter what their plans were when Childe, the Fatui Harbinger, attempted to steal the Gnosis from the dead Archon. Thankfully, Aether managed to put a stop to that but he was not in time to stop Childe from unsealing a vengeful god by the name of Osial from the depths of the ocean.
(Aether may no longer want anything to do with the country, but even he could not stand by and watch as it got destroyed.)
However, as soon as Aether made his way to the Jade Chamber, he immediately came face-to-face with the Conqueror of Demons. Aether would have fled had their eyes not met, he should have fled before the adeptus started making his way towards him. And yet, foolishly, he stood still even as the adeptus stopped right in front of him. Even as his mind screamed at him to run, Aether could not move.
"You again," the Conqueror of Demons growled. "Why are you here?"
Aether opened his mouth to answer but the icy glare and the unnatural cold hatred he felt silenced his voice. Words failed to fall from his lips and his tongue remained still, unwilling to obey his commands.
"We're here to help!" Paimon answered on Aether's behalf.
The Conqueror of Demons narrowed his eyes, judging the two of them. His eyes looked down, catching sight of Aether's covered wrist. Aether felt a wave of sadness that was quickly replaced with irritation. The Conqueror of Demons huffed and walked away, leaving Aether confused while Paimon stuck a tongue out at the adeptus. There was no time to figure out his soulmate's feelings however, not when Osial finally rose out from the ocean's surface.
Aether was forced to fight together with his soulmate. The other soldiers and adepti were busy defending the ballistas, leaving him and the Conqueror of Demons to deal with the portals bringing in Fatui troops to attack them. He could feel curiosity and admiration from the adeptus as he pushed back against the enemy forces. In return, he allowed himself to glance over at the adeptus, watching in awe as he fought with ease against his enemies.
(The bond may be broken but it was not severed. There was hope yet to fix it, if only the two would willingly come together.)
The two fought together, side-by-side, but even as they managed to hold back against the enemy waves, it was clear that Osial would not be defeated so easily. The ballistas were destroyed in the next attack, rendering the Jade Chamber weaponless against Osial. At the same time, the platform Aether had been fighting on collapsed and he fell with it.
He had expected to perish, to hit the unforgiving sea and be swallowed up by the raging waves. He had expected to die as Paimon called out his name in fear, to see her fearful face as the last thing he would remember before his death. He had not expected his soulmate to pluck him out of the air and return him to the Jade Chamber in one piece. The Conqueror of Demons released his hold on Aether and walked away, neither of them exchanging a single word. Paimon returned to Aether's side, fretting over his well-being while Aether continued to stare at his soulmate.
Aether ignored the way his heart beat when he remembered the way his soulmate carried him in his arms, the ghost of his soulmate's touch on his shoulders, and the gentle wind his soulmate commanded that caressed his hair. Instead, Aether moved to where the Liyue Qixing and the rest of the adepti had gathered to formulate the next part of the plan, even as he could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
In the end, Ningguang, of the Liyue Qixing, decided to sacrifice the Jade Chamber. Aether volunteered to be the catalyst to channel the adeptal energy. The rest of the adepti did not object but they did not agree either. Rather, they refused to communicate with him, only glaring at him coldly. It was only by the Conqueror of Demons' agreement that the plan was put into motion.
Aether knew that channelling the adeptal energy would take a heavy toll on his body, he was not expecting the searing pain when it flowed through him. He clenched his teeth to block out any noise of pain and he felt a flicker of worry and alarm from his soulmate. He tried to send his reassurance through the connection but from the increasing amount of worry and alarm that continued to flow through, Aether knew that his soulmate was not buying it.
With a yell, Aether channelled the energy through his blade and into the Jade Chamber, infusing the entire structure with adeptal energy. The Jade Chamber groaned as the energy cackled and the rock base cracked from the immense power infused into the structure's core. Aether felt a hand wrap around the torso before he was dragged dizzyingly into the air by his soulmate. Paimon followed behind and Aether watched as the Jade Chamber dropped on top of Osial. There was a loud painful scream as Osial was dragged beneath the raging sea but Aether was ignorant to it all, instead, his attention was focused on the strong hands stopping him from plummeting into the water below.
They landed on one of the undamaged docks and Aether turned back to check on the state of Osial, only to see calm sea and clear skies, not a single evidence of the vengeful god's wrath. He felt a flicker of curiosity, making Aether turn back to face his soulmate. His soulmate looked at him, his face blank, but when he looked down to stare at Aether's covered wrist, the flicker shifted to one of immense sadness and anger.
(Their bond was straining, only a single thread tied them together, and it would be so easy to sever it with lies and misunderstanding.)
Aether was tired of not knowing, to be treated coldly for things he did not know, to be ostracised for things out of his hands. And yet, he knew his soulmate had suffered, he knew his soulmate had no one for so long, he knew his soulmate had called for him over and over. Aether knew that he should have been there for his soulmate but he had not. It was both his fault and not at the same time. And Aether was tired of feeling guilty, of being unable to move on.
"We need to talk," Aether said and the Conqueror of Demons gave him a curt nod.
They moved to a quieter area of Liyue Harbour once they managed to extract themselves from the crowd that gathered to cheer for the heroes who saved the city. Aether sent Paimon away despite her protests. He wanted this conversation to be between him and his soulmate, no one to judge them for what they did or did not do, no one to interrupt them from their well-overdue talk.
"You're my soulmate," Aether said and the Conqueror of Demons nodded to affirm the fact. "Please tell me what happened, please."
The Conqueror of Demons stared at him, as if considering his request but eventually, he opened his mouth to speak. He spoke of a tale of an adeptus born, innocent and unaware of the war brewing on the land, an adeptus by the name of 'Alatus'. Alatus was born with a strange name etched upon his right wrist, foreign words not found in Teyvat.
In all of Alatus' young life, he would pray to his soulmate and offer his feelings to them, hoping to hear an answer from them. And yet, days went on and he could not hear a single answer from his soulmate. Soon, Alatus was captured and enslaved. He was turned into a weapon for a cruel god, forced to kill or suffer the god's wrath. It was his hope of meeting his soulmate one day that Alatus forced himself to live. Even when the god laughed at his suffering, even when pain was inflicted upon his body, even when the god seared his soulmate's name away in their fury. Alatus let himself hope and believe.
However, when the Archon War finally came to a close and Alatus was freed from his shackles, his hope died with his name and 'Xiao' was born from his ashes.
Aether listened to the tale in silence and at the end of it, he felt sadness for what happened to his soulmate, anger at the being who dared hurt his soulmate, and guilt for not being there.
"I'm sorry," Aether said, his eyes looking down at the aged stone beneath his feet.
"What for?" Xiao asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"I'm sorry for not being there. I'm sorry that you had to suffer alone. I'm sorry that no one came to help you."
"...I don't need your apologies," Xiao growled before turning to leave, only to be stopped by Aether grabbing his arm.
"Wait!" Aether cried out, moving to hug Xiao's entire arm to stop him from teleporting away. "I can explain…I want to explain."
Xiao stared at Aether, a flicker of curiosity rose up in Aether's chest before Xiao nodded his head and Aether released his hold.
"I'm not from Teyvat. I was born in a world beyond the stars and my people were gifted with the ability to travel between worlds. I was born with your name on my wrist and I knew that we would be fated to meet one day. I went to so many worlds, looking for you. Time did not flow the same way when travelling, a day could be a year in one world and a year could be in minutes in another.
When I first arrived in Teyvat, the world had been engulfed in destruction and I had to prioritise protecting my sister. It didn't matter in the end because we were blocked from leaving by an unknown god. The god sealed both of us, and I don't know how long I was sealed, but when I woke up, my sister wasn't there.
I'm sorry I had to prioritise searching for my sister over you. I'm sorry I didn't try harder looking for you. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to hear your feelings.
You deserve a better soulmate than me."
Aether spoke the last sentence in whispers but Xiao's sharp ears caught everything.
"Don't presume to know what I deserve," Xiao growled out, his hands clenching at his sides. He took a deep breath and sighed loudly, his anger diffusing away. "What happened to me is not your fault, there was nothing you could have done. If neither of us felt each other through our bond, then it was to do with the world boundaries blocking our connection. We can't fix what has already happened."
Was Xiao forgiving him?
"Forgive?" Xiao questioned, his eyes staring at Aether in disbelief. "There is nothing to forgive when no one is at fault in the first place."
That has to be a lie. Aether had hurt his soulmate badly so why was he no longer blaming him?
"...It was…wrong of me to accuse you."
Did they still have a chance? Aether did not know if he deserved it.
"I am…willing…to try," Xiao said, the words spoken slowly as if he was unused to them.
"Can we? Can we start over, even with everything that has happened?"
"I told you," Xiao said as he took a step towards Aether. His hand reached out to gently grab hold of Aether's covered wrist before he continued, "I am willing to try."
The wraps came off and Aether stared at 'Alatus' written on his wrist. Xiao released his grip and pulled his right glove off, revealing a scarred wrist where Aether's name would have been. Xiao gently touched Aether's soulmark as Aether's fingers brushed against the scar of where Xiao's soulmark would have been.
"I was once known as Alatus. Now, I am Xiao, the Conqueror of Demons, your soulmate."
"I am Aether, a traveller amongst the stars, your soulmate."
"I am bound to you, in life and in death."
"And I am bound to you, even beyond the land, sea, and stars."
"If you awake to a knife at your throat, if monsters dig their claws into you, if death comes knocking at your door, call out my name. I will be here when you call."
"If pain claims your mind, if darkness seeks to chase away your light, if your body cries in suffering, call out my name. I will go to you no matter where you are."
