Just a note, English isn't my native language, sooooo please be indulgent !


The world is coming to an end.

"It's not difficult to realize it", a cynical part of me pointed out.

The sky, which a few hours ago had been a radiant blue, was now red, or maybe orange, the sunset?

The countless little red and black cubes floating lazily in the sky didn't really help to define the color of the sky.

The ground, once beautiful, its nature took your breath away, was now gone, leaving nothing but dirt, mud, but mostly.

A pool of blood, spreading in every direction.

Corpse, countless corpses lay strewn on the ground.

Those of my friends, my enemies, those of animals as well as nature.

Every form of life, whatever she is, was exterminated, without any distinction.

Using my sword as a cane, I advanced, my eyes looking distractingly at the sides.

Jean, Barbara, Mona, Diluc, Kaeya, Amber, Albedo… and so many others.

All dead, trying to protect their home, their region, its people

Mondstadt was, within a day, completely wiped off the map.

"Aether! I am here!"

Lumine ran towards me, kneeling down to catch me as my body collapsed in front of her.

Her eyes looked at me, with a bare fear, as they did not stop alternating between my face and my chest.

A deep wound on my chest.

Breathing was difficult, my throat hurt, I couldn't even feel my arms and legs anymore.

I see Lumine reaching out, behind her, closing her eyes briefly, before a portal is created where she had reached out.

A portal from the abyss.

She takes me in a married position, a part of me should be embarrassed.

In a normal situation, she would have laughed at me, and then I would have struggled to get back on my feet, we would have had a good laugh.

I cough, blood drips from my mouth involuntarily, my breathing becoming even more labored.

"It'll be fine Aether," she told me, her voice reassuring and soft, heading for the portal.

"Wait" I shout, or I try to shout, only a fragile whisper comes out.

Her eyes fixed on me, she paused, waiting.

"Where…Pai…mon?" I wanted to ask her where she was.

When our enemy arrived, I told her to go, sending her to the opposite direction of the battle, which I knew was Liyue, there she will find people who can help her, and maybe help us.

It was a few hours ago, and I didn't see anyone from Liyue coming, maybe they were getting ready.

Maybe Paimon never reached Liyue.

No.

NO.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I look at Lumine, she does not say a word, but the simple fact of looking away said a lot.

"She… she…" she began, her voice hesitant.

Something inside me breaks.

I saw several of my friends die, and I felt nothing but a slight regret, nothing more.

It should have been the same thing, but nevertheless, Paimon...

The first person to help me, the one who accompanied me everywhere, the one who listened to me and comforted me in my difficult moments, the one who made me laugh and smile in happier times, the one that kept me going in my uncertain times.

The one I've come to think of as a sister.

The one that I happened to think of as my own daughter.

Tears, the first since I stepped on the ground of Teyvat.

Lumine said nothing, advancing towards the gate, and once through she shouted orders.

At that moment, I already couldn't hear anymore, I wanted to close my eyes, and end it, however, Lumine was still there, so I kept pushing them, keeping them open.

She put me down, and I saw some members of the abyss with medical kits.

I saw her looking at me, talking to me, and despite the fact that I didn't think I could feel anything anymore, I felt a hand, her hand, tighten mine, tears in the corner of her eyes.

My body couldn't take it anymore though, and then, on its own, my eyes closed.

And then I felt it, the soft embrace of death wrapped around me.

My eyes open, on a beach, the soft sound of the sea, coming and going-

"LUMINE !" I shout as I get up.

I had just screamed, so I put my hands on my throat, then I realized that I felt my hands.

My body is intact, no injuries.

Yet I felt a sense of emptiness, as if something was missing, something that was intrinsically part of me.

I call Anemo power into my hands

Where I was trying.

Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro…

None answer, I call my sword.

A classic iron sword materializes.

I open my bag, and I see nothing in it.

I then look at my surroundings.

It was like the first time, when I first opened my eyes in Teyvat.

My powers stripped and my possessions nowhere.

"What is happening ?!"

And so my cycle of life and death began.

Run n°xxx

The Geo Archon will show up to save Liyue.

It's funny to think about it, without me, the old man was forced to continue his job.

I was on a terrace, Yujing Terrace, when the disaster began, lazily stirring the contents of my glass, I looked up at my dear and loving friend, Paimon.

She was floating nearby, her juice cup resting on the table, the short straw and the small floating over its contents.

She was scared, which was normal, the world was acting like Liyue was going to be destroyed.

"We really should go, Aether…"

"Don't worry Paim, we are fine, worst case scenario you teleport somewhere else, and I manage to escape." I replied, giving her a wink.

"And if you can't run away!-" she cried, fear coloring her voice "-And if you… You…!"

She worries about me, as always, a smile forms on my lips.

I stand up and take her tenderly in my arms, turning us to where the battle happens.

I lift one of my hands and gently run it through her soft white hair, a small noise of satisfaction involuntary escapes her mouth.

"I'm going to tell you a secret"

"Hm?" Her face turned to me

"If I told you that I know who the Geo Archon is, would you believe me?"

"Paimon thinks you're lying…but she thinks not." She said, a conflicting face

"Oh?"

"I don't know! And Paimon sees you're changing the subject!"

A small laugh escapes my lips.

"Well, who is this" she asks, trying not to let her curiosity show

Trying.

"Well, the Geo Archon-" I started, pointing ahead of me, towards the battle, to catch her attention over there, "-Are someone over there".

Not a second later, a huge Geo symbol appeared in the sky, as a meteor fell from the sky, straight at the ancient god, before dissolving, as if he never existed in the first place.

A meteor, just that, and the ancient god was dead.

It was quick when he did, and ridiculous.

"Suck it Signora! Ha!"

"What!" she cried, her eyes widening comically

"Here's a problem to settle" I said, taking my drink, raising it and toasting to where the battle had taken place.

Paimon didn't answer, still shocked, before suddenly exclaiming

"You didn't actually tell Paimon who the Geo Archon is!"

A laugh escaped me, "That's right, that's right, well, how about seeing him now that we're saved?" I scooped Paimon up in my arms and started heading towards the Northland Bank.

Her gaze trembling with impatience

Run n°xxx

"Inazuma is magnificent…" says Paimon, amazed.

They were in Inazuma City.

"Isn't it, Inazuma has this little charm".

Paimon watched, from right to left, navigating between the different shops, her eyes sparkling with joy at the discovery of this new region.

Aether slipped behind her, before catching her in her arms, drawing a gasp of surprise from her best friend.

"What about going there," he says, pointing to the giant tree that stands out in the distance, to the west.

"Only if you buy me this!" She said, pointing to a little cherry cake with little pieces of strawberry from the store to her right.

He bought it.

"Honestly, she could ask me anything I'd buy her," part of him remarked, "but then again, life is too short to deprive yourself of happiness".

Pushing the negative thoughts from his mind, he turned his eyes to a happy Paimon, and then, a smile formed on his face.

"As long as you're happy, I am" he said.

"Hmm ?".

"Nothing."

Several minutes of walking later, and they arrived at the Narukami Shrine, the rose-colored petals fluttering in the wind, falling slowly and quietly, scattering to the ground.

"Paimon thinks it's pretty," she said, grabbing a petals in her hands.

I picked one up, eyeing it absentmindedly, before tossing it in the air.

Go little petals, fly and find your freedom-

It flew straight into my face, nearly slipping into my mouth.

A second joined the first, and for good measure, not a second later, a third landed on my face.

Was I going to die of suffocation from cherry petals, it seems like fate had it.

I felt little hands pose on my face, while the petals were clearing

"You should tell Paimon if you were that hungry !" she told me, with a teasing smile.

"I learn from the best when it comes to eating" A smirk.

"Yes you do," a proud expression on her face while putting her small hands on her hips.

Paimon and I walked to the cherry tree.

We observe it in silence, or Paimon observed it, for my part, there is nothing to see, it is a tree, nothing less, nothing more, perhaps it was due to the fact of having already seen it so many times that it no longer expresses anything to me.

Things tend to become mundane over time.

"A sweet Madame is better to see" she says, ignoring the gaze of the tourists

"Yeah" I say, absolutely not ignoring the gaze of the tourists.

She floated towards me, before collapsing on top of her head.

Since when did my head become its nest?

Not that it bothers me.

"How about pulling a Fortune Slip"

"Paimon felt lucky today!"

"Let's see if it's only a feeling then"

We each went to pull our Fortune Slip

A big bad luck for me

"What a surprise" I say to myself sarcastically

I turn my eyes to Paimon's, big luck.

She looked at mine in turn.

"I don't believe in that kind of thing" I said, balling up the paper in my pocket.

Paimon didn't seem to believe me, but made no comment.

However, she put her weight on my right shoulder, a sign of comfort that I appreciated.

"Hey, Paim…"

"Hey?"

"You… won't leave me?"

She stared at me oddly, as if a child had just said the stupidest thing with the greatest conviction

"Paimon will always be here, as long as Aether is here for me!"

"Thanks, Paimon… Thanks…".

She didn't answer, but gave me a bright smile.

Without noticing, a bright smile formed on my lips, as we headed back to Inazuma City.

Run n°xxx

"Hey Zhongli… And you two!" Paimon shouted as she and Aether were entering the Northland Bank.

Childe and Signora stood there. in front of a stoic Zhongli.

His gnosis in his hand, stretched out towards the 2 fatui.

"And the gnosis! So you're really Morax huh".

Zhongli was about to comment on this sentence, but a voice interrupted him.

"YOU!".

Childe cried out in fear.

It wasn't Childe who was unhappy to have lost his fight against him, losing all dignity even as he failed to bring the slightest hit against him, but Signora, who was unhappy.

Very unhappy.

"Is it me, or has the temperature dropped a bit?"

"Nice to meet you again…" Aether said, stepping forward a bit, before theatrically putting his hand on his chin "-Sonigra!" he continued, warmly opening his arms, waiting for her hug.

A Cyro ray was directly launched on him, he deflected without problem with his anemo power.

"I too am very happy to see you again, Sagrino!" he said, stepping back slightly so that he was next to Paimon, he whispered, "Paim~, trust me, and enjoy the look on the white haired woman's face."

"Wait what-"

In an instant, Anemo energy manifested, and bright green spikes appeared on the ends of the previously blonde hair.

"So this feeling-" Zhongli began, as he narrowed his eyes, his eyes began to glow slightly.

Signora rushed to Zhongli to grab the gnosis.

The gnosis, one inch from Signora's hand, flew in the opposite direction, straight to Aether.

He caught it with no problem.

Aether acted like a showman having just finished his play or a magician finishing his turn.

He raised an imaginary hat, and waved his other arm broadly, toward his audience.

"Zhongli, Childe, and Gnorasi, until next time!"

He felt the temperature drop drastically, and yet Signora's face had never been so red, brimming with warmth.

Probably out of rage.

Childe, frightened, threw himself into Zhongli's arms.

"Put a shield or something!-" started Childe, Zhongli was about to throw him away, but Childe continued "- I promise to pay you one- no two million Mora!".

Not a second later, a shield surrounds them.

Signora didn't even notice the two men's antics, her eyes focusing only on Aether.

Aether ran and grabbed Paimon, who let out a cry of surprise, as well as a second when she turned her gaze to Signora, seeing something there that would put even death itself to shame.

As he ran, he pushed his shoulder against the door, causing it to bang hard against the wall to the left, and he leapt directly to his right, jumping over the railing.

"Sir ! Wai-" poor Vlad started, before seeing a huge Cyro beam coming out of the room "-iaaAAAAAH", he recoiled in fear, tripped, and fell through the railing.

Aether meanwhile, once fallen, began to run towards the exit of Liyue, his laughter echoing through the streets of Liyue.

"Now we go to Sumeru!".

"What about Inazuma?!" Paimon asked, her eyes fixed behind them, afraid to see Signora pursue them.

"Eh, don't worry about Inazuma, our little Electro gnosis will come to us, at least if we stay in Sumeru".

Run n°xxx

Mondstadt, city of freedom, or, more realistically, city of wine.

The amount of wine present was mind-blowing.

"If people drank more wine than water, I wouldn't be surprised," Aether thought, walking up the stairs to the entrance, past the various shops and Katheryne.

Continuing to walk, they came a few seconds later to a small square, where there was a fountain, and, he knew, more importantly, a small restaurant, The Good Hunter.

He turned his eyes to the left, and saw that Paimon had her full intentions in said restaurant.

"Sweet Madame…" she said distractedly, unconsciously hovering closer.

"Paim?"

No answer.

"Paimon? Hey?" Call Aether by waving his hand in front of Paimon.

It did not fail to surprise her.

"Do I have Paimon's attention?" I say, a teasing smile.

"Hmf, Paimon will let you know she's been listening to you all along," she said, crossing her little arms.

I don't doubt that for a second, I wanted to tell her.

But I have an urgent task to perform.

I pulled a small bag of Mora from my bag, and put it on the restaurant counter, drawing the restorer's attention, Sara.

"We would like to order two dishes-" I said, then turning to Paimon "-which dish do you want?".

"Paimon wants a Sweet Madame!".

"The same for me".

She checks before pocketing the moras and telling us to grab a table.

"Paim" I said, as she floated distractedly towards the table.

She turned to me.

"I'm going to be gone for 5-10 minutes, if I'm not there and you see my dish getting cold, well, do yourself a favor" I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Where are you going?"

"Can't a man have his own privacy?"

She narrowed her eyes, but let him go. "Prepare to have nothing to eat!"

I hide my smile with my hand as I turn around.

Ten minutes later, I had my sword thrust into a bard, where he who pretends to be a bard

Venti, was it?

The Anemo Archon's eyes looked at me in shock.

He didn't expect a guy who just appeared in the city of Mondstadt to come and stab him.

He didn't expect this new person to be able to cancel his wind, to change it.

"You know, you told me, well, once at least, that the wind tells you everything, yet, if you know how to manipulate it, then you can transmit false information." The sword freed itself from its frail body.

"But then again, no one but the Anemo Archon can understand the wind." He continued, crouching beside his victim.

The wind swirled in all directions as Venti desperately tried to create distance between himself and the blond-haired stranger.

"I need your gnosis Venti, you know, if you had the good sense to give it to me without question, we wouldn't be in that situation".

The wind pushes against me, and with my anemo power, I push it back, where more realistically, I distort the wind in front of me in order to create a passage for me, while the wind slightly pushes Venti in the opposite direction.

A few more steps, and I'm done with my job, leaving only a frail, lifeless body and a gnosis in my possession.

"I missed you, old friend" I say, pocketing the object in the pocket of my pants.

Five minutes later, I was back, seeing Paimon having almost finished eating.

She sees me and makes a movement which I return to her, I arrive at the table and I collapse in my chair.

"Paimon worrying that you won't-"she took a piece of his meat"-ever come back!" Her eyes were slightly watery.

"Well, here I am again-" I said, a reassuring smile, "-do you want a second dish?" I asked her.

"Are you not going to eat?" She asked.

"I can order a second round for you".

"Paimon will not refuse!" A beaming smile graced his lips.

My smile widens.

Run n°xxx (Omake)

Venti left with three bottles of wine under his elbow, waving to Aether and Paimon.

"Our wine is really successful, Paimon wonders why".

"I guess it's my secret ingredient that… gives this taste so appreciated by some." said Aether, cryptically.

"Paimon wants to know what it is!" she said, her eyes wide amazed.

The mention of anything food related makes her daydream, a childish little thing, but one I've come to love.

But it's one of the rare times her amazement isn't wanted.

Really not.

"I guess you could say, that ingredient is... the chef's sauce".

"Oh! Can I taste-".

"No".

"Why?!".

"Listen Paim, uh... how to say..." I started, fumbling on my words.

How am I supposed to approach this, is this the time to address sexuality and sexual reproduction?!

I'm not ready for that ! Lumine please come back!

"What's the sauce even?" Paimon then asked, oblivious to Aether's mental state.

"Hmm…something you wouldn't like…".

"Paim please stop !" I screamed desperately inwardly,

her eyes locked on mine, looking not satisfied with my response, she turned and began to shout at a departing Venti.

"TONE DEAF BARD ! WHAT IS THE CHEF'S S–".

"PAIM NOOOOOO-".


That's all !

I appreciated writing and reading this, we REALLY need more fanfic focus ONLY (or a lot) on Aether and Paimon.

I search sometimes about that, but there is always a Childe/Aether, Venti/Aether, Xiao/Aether or I don't know what ship (On AO3 atleast, i don't search Genshin fic on Fanfic dot net). I don't care about the ship, I just want the family (aka Paimon & Aether) !

Whatever.

Originally in the Mondstat moment, Aether was decapitated by Venti with his wind power.

Yeah, it wasn't the place for this kind of chapter here, but mostly, when I wrote that, it was a lot focused on Aether, and there was basically no Paimon, so I rewrote it.

EDIT : I just finished translating it in English, oh god, it's so boring and not fun to translate…

I think, next time i write it directly in english, avoid this boring phase.

Have a nice day !

By : bast_oscar / bastoscar