The tree was burning, the smoke rising up into the sky as the flames devoured the life of the great tree away. The sky was painted red, a reflection of chaos on the ground below.
Aether stared at the destruction from the cliff as the world around him descended into chaos. The world could only watch as bloodsoaked history was born from its own ashes and yet, it was not the future that he saw but the far past buried deep in his memories.
He had seen this before.
It was a world filled with strife, war, and death. But to the twins born in that world, it was what they call their home. Their golden wings took them wherever they wanted to go and in the great blue sky where there was no strife, no war, and no death.
And yet, even when exposed to that at a young age, the twins were not prepared for when the world decided to devour itself. The blue sky bled red and flames licked every surface in the world. The people screamed as they tried to flee the impending doom and Aether watched as the fire of chaos devoured life as it spread uncontrolled.
He fled with his sister, taking flight with the golden wings both of them were blessed with since birth. They fled to a different world, far away from the one they used to call home, far away from the destruction and the carnage, far away from the flames that devoured life to fuel its everlasting hunger.
They arrived in a new world so vastly different from their own, with living beings they had never seen before. It was a peaceful world with no strife, no war, and no death. No one had to fight to survive, no one had to die simply for others to live. It was a perfect world.
For a long time, the twins stayed in this new world. They were happy and content living in this new world where there was no more need to raise their blades against faceless foes. But all of that changed one day when war broke out, when the flames of destruction finally caught up to them and mercilessly devoured the world.
The twins fled into the blood red sky as the flames devoured every source of life. The people below screamed for salvation as the twins turned their back on them, soaring away as fast as their golden wings could take them. They cried as they flew away, crying even when the world was but a speck of colour in the endless sky before them.
They landed in a new world far from any civilization and they hid from the people of the new world. They wanted to leave as soon as they could, before the flames of destruction caught up to them. They wanted to rest their wings before taking flight once more.
But the world burned. The flames cared not as it devoured away all the lives in the world.
The twins fled again as the fire burned away the forest they had been living in until there was nothing left but charred remains of the world they left behind. They kept flying, even when their wings ached and their body begged for rest. They continued to soar the skies, travelling from world to world, watching as those worlds burned one by one.
He had seen it all before.
When they arrived in Teyvat to the world destroying itself, they left as quickly as they came, knowing what was to come should they remain. And yet, the god of that world stopped them from leaving and separated them, sealing them and sending them back into the world.
He had doomed yet another world.
Aether woke up alone, powerless, and unable to leave. However, the world that had once been eaten by the flames of destruction was vibrant with life. How was that possible?
He feared to venture out into this new world. What if the flames of destruction still remained in this world, still devouring lives, still destroying everything it touched? He was tired of running, going nowhere just to remain safe. He did not want to be alone, to be the only one left of his people. He was scared to lose more than he already had lost: his wings, his blade, his power, and his own sibling.
And yet, it took one tiny companion to convince him to leave. It took one person to convince him to help. It took one step to save a country. It took one push for him to seek out his own sister. It took courage to venture forward even when his own sister left him.
(They had to leave before the flames devoured them too.)
He travelled far and wide in this world of Teyvat, searching, exploring, befriending.
He had grown complacent.
As the world burned all around him, as the screams of terror filled his ears, as Paimon tried to urge him to flee, Aether watched, powerless and numb, as the world of Teyvat began its fall.
He was too late again.