Genshin Impact
- Ameliorated Ambitions -
Preface
In recent days, stories have easily been able to capture my attention. I'm sure you, dear reader, are no stranger to enjoying a story rich with quality either. For this reason, playing through Genshin Impact has always left a bitter taste in my mouth. The unused story potential has left me contemplating whether or not I could revise the story and improve it. I sincerely hope that this fanfiction can accomplish that, so thank you for taking the time to read it.
Act I
An Unkempt Melody
Chapter 1:
Medio Ventorum
The night would always carry a reminder on its back, and deliver it to every home. Tonight was no different, as each gust of wind would sharply remind each and everyone of the biting cold. Some choose to block this reminder behind thick curtains and blankets. Yet for Aether, despite dressed in clothes unable to fully cover him, the reminders fell on deaf ears.
"Stranded, Moraless and alone" strung up his mind as he desperately paced the claustrophobic room, carelessly stepping on fliers that promised good sums. All avenues he thought up felt worthless in the face of the being that took something unaffordable.
"Ae..ther?" He looked at the petite figure on the nightstand, whose soft words easily cut through him.
"Are..you ok?" He sat on the edge of the bed, getting to her eye level.
"Don't worry Paimon, I'm just thinking about tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Yeah, to let you catch some sleep."
"Oh..well thanks a bunch"
As she returned to slumber, Aether felt a measure of relief and softly chuckled as he recalled their unexpected meeting. He leaned into his pillow, and held his worn sword in the moonlight, turning it to try and catch a glimpse of its once lustrous white and gold.
Soon, his eyelids begin to weigh down, and he decides to put his sword and worries away. After all, tomorrow is bound to have him pick them up again.
In the soft glow of the moonlight, a boy clad in lime clung desperately to the neck of a dragon flying with the speed and intensity of a gale, and had anything but a soft time.
"C'mon buddy! You gotta get down!" No matter how high he raised his voice, only the sound of the ripping winds and the roars of the azure dragon itself would be heard. He clicked his teeth and ran his fingers across the crystals jutting from its jaw, which emitted a sickly purple hue. "They really did a number on you.. Guess I gotta go for Plan B."
He released his grip and let himself freefall off, looking mournfully at the havoc left in the wake before turning to face the ground he was rapidly approaching. A small breeze began to swirl at his feet, quickly becoming a powerful wind current and jetting him towards a camp of grizzly humanoid-like creatures.
Drawing an elegant golden bow, he pulls on its strings like a harp, the wind around him coalescing into an equally elegant cerulean arrow. As the arrow cuts through the air, it splits into a number of more arrows, leaving behind an elegant hum like that of a lyre. By the time he lands on the ground, each arrow has pierced through the heart of all but one of the creatures, the beautiful song substituted with agonizing screams.
He walks through their disintegrating corpses and shoots an arrow into the leg of the last monster. "Sorry about the drop in, just need to pick up something." He holds a vial in his hand as wind blows across the monster's body, collecting a sickly purple substance and depositing it. Putting the monster out of its misery, he holds up the vial and looks at it curiously. "Alarm clocks never hurt anyone, right?"
Freshly picked Sunsettia, a cup full of its juices, grilled fish, and some haggling here and there. Aether's mornings in Teyvat's City of Wind would begin to follow this routine, and waking up with a rejuvenated state of mind, he was ready to tackle it again. Hence his unfiltered surprise when he was shaken awake to the sight of a tree taking up half his room.
"Wha..what in the.." He looked towards his panicked companion. "I don't know either! I woke up to the tree crashing in!" He shook away any remaining fatigue as he scrambled out the door, only to be stunned like electrocution on sight of massive debris littering the entire town, the net of disbelief cast over each and every townsfolk. Men adorned in silver armor with gold crests embossed to their chests ran around like worker ants, helping some citizens and others arming themselves. With each of Aether's slow, deliberate footsteps, the weight of the situation sunk further.
"What..are we gonna do?" asked the increasingly worried Paimon. "The only thing we can do: survive." He held onto Paimon and hastily made his way out of the city, taking up refuge underneath the foliage of the woods. Settling into the grass with the grace of a dizzy cow, he rubbed his forehead in frustration. "First Lumine, now this crap.." Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a floating Sunsettia, and turned around to see Paimon holding as much as she could in her arms. "It's no good thinking on an empty stomach." Despite the lack of fillingness, they did wonders for the pair's mental state.
"So, what are we gonna do? We don't have much Mora."
"Simple, we're already standing on our beds."
"Wha- Hey, I am not sleeping outside!"
"It sucks but it's not like we have anything better going."
Paimon sighs dejectedly, the juices of Sunsettia no longer tasting as sweet.
"Hey, I'd rather be a thousand other places than here-"
The two look up in alarm upon something unseen rustling in the bushes behind them, Aether holding up his sword in what little self-defense he knew. It kept on rustling as the two grew more fearful, cursing the terrible luck they landed on.
Yet what popped out was not something intent on ending their lives, rather a boy of average height and build, clad in lime with white accents, lyre at his hip and a pair of feathers to complement. "Er..hello?" was all that Aether could muster out. "Ah, hello! Sorry if I gave you a fright, the damn bushes are prickly."
The three found themselves reclining on the ground as the boy began to explain himself. "My name is Venti and I'm from these parts you see." He outstretched his hand, Aether glancing at it hesitantly before shaking it. "I'm Aether, this is Paimon." to which the latter waved.
"I'll try to remember. Anyways, I came here because Mondstadt needs a helping hand, not that I can answer that call seeing as I'm just a nobody."
"Oh, you look..like you'd stand out in a crowd though" was Paimon's attempt at dismissing his negative self view.
"Believe me, I'm the last person to stand out. But I want to do my part, so I figured I'd provide assistance to ones of higher standing. And you look like someone who could fit the bill, Ae..Aether."
"Heh, funny."
"Trust me, being low on the social ladder means you get a knack for seeing people who could rise to the top."
Aether sighs, thinking about the consequences of potential stardom. Yet one result in particular stood out the most to him, trumping almost everything else in an instant.
"What's it gonna take?"
"Wellll..your end goal is to defeat the one responsible for wrecking the town, which would be a sky blue dragon."
"I'm sorry, defeat a dragon?"
"You'll definitely have help, and you probably won't even need to..kill it. So long as it's tamed, the town can rest easy."
Aether's face contorts into that of a covered up nervousness
"Alright well..how do I defeat this dragon?"
"That, I'm not entirely sure of, but my guess is that something corrupted it."
Venti holds out a vial filled with a sickly purple substance. "Could be this thing."
"..How did you even get all this anyways?"
"Well, self defense is important, even though I'd much rather sing a tune than shoot a hilichurl."
"Uh huh..and how do you expect me to find a cure for whatever that is?"
"I know you'll climb the ladder, you'll probably find something good up there too."
Without warning, Venti drops the vial into Aether's hand and dives into the bushes. Aether begins to pursue, getting cuts from the prickly bushes. "Aether! At least be careful!" Paimon would fly close behind him, and the two eventually found their way, yet Venti seemed to be long gone.
In place of what would normally be the calming song of the morning forest breeze, Aether and Paimon now faced down a group of grizzly, bipedal creatures. Simply designed masks hid something even they themselves feared to see, and they angrily began to approach the duo.
"Shit..are these hilichurls?" Aether drew his sword in order to protect his fragile partner, yet was forced to back up as the hilichurls began to take up arms. In desperation, he clutched the vial and Paimon, making a break for it as danger clung on his tail. Yet his running came to its inevitable end as he collapsed, heaving and panting against a stone pillar. He continued to clutch Paimon close to him as she prayed to whatever deity is out there, as the hilichurl's descended in vicious fury.
"May the winds go with you." Aether began to glance up in confusion, compounded by the fact the pillar next to him was glowing, and he himself felt lighter, like hefty weights were finally released from his body. As he stared at the grain of the wooden masks face to face, he lashed out with his sword, cutting into the face of the hilichurl, causing it to howl out in pain and stumble backward.
"Wha..what the-" Paimon would begin to glance out as well, Aether stunned at his actions and the lack of restraint he felt. As more hilichurls would leap into attack, Aether clutched his sword and swiftly moved against them, thrusting and swinging his sword wildly and without any grace or restraint. The wounded hilichurls would collapse, slowly returning to dust as Paimon was utterly shocked.
As the hilichurls were slayed, he finally turned his attention to the one that stood out from the rest. Wind currents began to swirl around Aether's sword as the hilichurl used its large build to ram its equally large shield into him. The two clashed as a strong breeze pushed against those in the radius, both sides violently refusing to yield. Yet, the standoff would inevitably begin to break as cracks began to form in the hilichurl's shield, and soon enough, the force would shatter it into chunks. Aether seizes the opportunity, and jumps into the hilichurl's face, piercing through its skull.
He drops his sword and pants even worse than before as the two watch the last hilichurl evaporate into dust in the wind.
"Are you ok?!"
"No…but at least you are…"
He manages a slight cheeky grin as Paimon sighs in relief.
"Thanks a bunch by the way, I owe you everything twice over now."
"It's fine…just pay me by letting me rest, alright.."
Despite the numerous questions he had floating around, he took solace in her safety as the last of his consciousness slipped away.