The cherry blossoms flew and some landed on my head.
Where do I go after this? Ever since the events in Inazuma, it has been one of the most peaceful of the nations. Everytime I get the chance to get a commission here, I always go to this place, the highest point on Narukami island. Overseeing the whole purple city now filled with lights and laughter. For the first time in months, I feel at peace.
After my last meeting with Dain in the chasm, I start hearing their voices, I start to feel their blood in my hands. I never felt it was wrong to kill them mercilessly which makes me even more sick. I washed my face in the chozuya, hoping that I could cleanse myself from this guilt.
I look at my reflection from deep within the Chozuya. But I just realized that I look... different. Something within me has changed, the lack of sleep I had is catching up to me. I almost failed to recognize my own face.
My face was pale with a stubble clearly formed, and no matter how many times I tried to clean it, my clothes still had the stench of blood.
I started to doubt myself and spoke to my reflection,
"I am the good guy right?" I am not so sure about it anymore. I am terrified.
The money I put in the offering table clinks. With my hand trembling I prayed to the Gods,
"I just want my sister back, please."
When a gust of wind goes by, I open my eyes and I smell a sweet fragrant aroma coming from beside me and I see her, even with my current skill, Yae Miko is still able to sneak right beside me.
She prays together with me and when we are done she look at me and smiles,
"It's been quite a while since Aether."
I don't understand why, but all the doubt, the fear, the anger, the helplessness, just disappeared the moment I saw her smile.
"It is." I smiled back at her.
She did not commend or ask how I was doing, she looked at the moon and walked. After some steps she looked back at me, "The moon is simply magnificent tonight. We mustn't squander it. Come, join me for a moonlight stroll — I won't take no for an answer."
She takes me into town, the town is quiet but calming it is not. I feel anxious all the time. In the midst of my missions, I still have the audacity to enjoy this peaceful night. I just cannot bring myself to enjoy the night.
Yae brought me to a stand where the seller made us two portions of the kitsune udon.
I start to doze off, thinking about what my sister is doing right now. I could be doing more commissions or start helping people or even finding more clues of my sister's whereabouts but here I am, enjoying my night.
Yae Miko did not say anything so neither did I. After I eat a portion of my udon, I look at her thinking that she is not done yet and she is not.
She is not done with her eighth portion, that is. I am amazed and confused on how in the abyss did she ate those only in several minutes.
After she is done with her tenth plate she stands up and simply walks away, without even telling me.
I tell her to wait up but she is not listening, she just keeps on walking. Yae Miko is the most volatile person I ever knew, she does things that she wants, she speaks whatever she wants, without a single care given for anyone else.
Heck, if she wanted to, she could have ended the civil war in Inazuma a long time ago. But she prefers to enjoy it all from the side. She acts like a household cat, but with the power of literal God.
"Hmm? Why are you still following me?" She says, which brings me confusion.
She looked irritated, and kept walking fast. But I do not know why. I do not understand what she meant. She suddenly disappeared from my sight. But I can still hear her voice somehow.
"You have the audacity to ignore Yae Miko!" She is shouting, but it seems that I am the only one that can listen to her voice right now. Nobody else seems to react.
I follow the source of the sound.
"You were busy right? Move along now, there is no need for you to amuse me."
My lord, she acts just like the bartender in Cat's Tail. Sometimes I am unable to believe that Yae Miko has lived for more than hundreds of years.
She did not speak anymore but somehow I could hear her step. I know enough that, if Yae Miko decided not to, she can hide her step, but there is something she wants but I do not know what that is.
"But you are right, I am only an old sly fox, what do I know."
She finally shows herself in the middle of Chinju Forest and she frowns.
"We are finally alone." She speaks softly, her eyes are reflecting the little moonlight that is able to pierce through the thick forest.
"Yae, listen I did not try to make you mad or anything, it's just that... there's a lot of things in my mind right now." I am tired, but I do feel guilty about ignoring her earlier. I try to stop her from going any further.
"Hmm? You really think I will be angry because of such a trivial matter?" She laughed.
"..." See, this is why I told myself that I cannot trust whatever this fox has to say.
"I just want to see your reaction dear, and it was absolutely worth all the drama." She laughed so hard until some tears came out. I cannot believe her, that is unamusing. So I told her I was leaving but she did not let me. Instead, she appeared right in front of me and surprised me. I fell to the ground.
"We can finally talk eye to eye. How are you Aether?"
My clothes are wet and covered in grass. But after I pulled myself up, I looked her in the eyes and sighed.
"As you can see, I am not dead, at the very least." That is one thing I can still be grateful about.
She sat down near the river.
"Have I ever told you the definition of insanity, Aether?" She looks at my face but her hands are playing with the water from the river.
"Insanity is doing the exact same thing, over and over again, expecting things to change, that is insane."
I do not understand and I think she is talking nonsense but she looks like she is holding back something. I do not know why, but I decided to trust her expression one more time.
The water she plays with ripples and some fishes get closer to her, thinking that her fingers are food.
"You ask yourself why did I not do the things you did? Why did I not save Inazuma from the civil war, and why did I not stop Ei?"
She takes a deep breath and peers at me.
"Us kitsune yokai, we have our tails and bore it with pride, at least we should be, but I cannot stand it. I was embarrassed, you are one of the few people that was able to see my tails and come out unharmed. But I consider these powers to be nothing but a charm for misfortune. Even if I did save Inazuma, things will return."
"My family..." She looked like she was crying. Her nails grew, her eyes glowed and her face started to change into something more fox-like.
"My friends! My people! They've all been taken from me, by these powers!"
Her voice echoed in the forest. The fishes on the river were electrocuted, and the tanukis are running away.
Thunder struck and she blinked right in front of me, she gripped my shoulder with her claws, and it hurt a lot.
I winced and tried to fight back but it was no use, her grip is fierce. I am afraid that if I do fight, it will not end up well for either of us.
She looked at my eyes and quickly returned to normal.
"I am sorry Aether."
She took a step back and distanced herself from me, but I approached her slowly.
"Aether, the moment you came back to Inazuma, I came immediately to see you. I was happy, I consider us as friends, and it's been a long time since my friends who went outside of Inazuma, returned here in full pieces.
But the look on your face is the same as my friends who were about to be taken by the erosion. It's not something from outside that is corrupting the Gods, it's these powers from within. All of my friends failed to contain their lust for power. These powers that not even Gods can control."
I was confused, I thought she was still messing around, but I wanted to take a bet that she was not, so I asked her.
"So what should I do?"
"Nothing."
What do you mean nothing!?
"Precisely what I said."
I still do not get it. But she put her hand on her chest, she looked at me with pity and her ears drooped.
"Give up Aether."
From what exactly? From saving my sister? She knows I cannot do that,
"Give up Aether, or I'll make you!"
She transformed once again, and showed a glimpse of how kitsune really looks like. It was frightening. My foot is shaking, I am unable to grip my sword and she shouted at me. The howls she makes are deafening but she keeps on going.
"Believe me the returns are not worth the pain. You are one of the few people I have left, please do not give in to your foolishness!" The voice echoed, but I shouted back at her.
"Why did you go this far for me? You did not care about anything Yae, why must you care about what I do? Everytime we were together, you were always toying with me."
She did not screech back or even do anything, her kitsune form just stayed there for a second and she transformed back.
I was about to grip my sword but with a calm and collected face she approached me, and-
"Yae I-" Before I could say anything, she just punched me in my gut. I fell down on my knees, unable to breathe for a few seconds and almost threw up. When I was down she pulled me on my collar.
"Do you think I would give up the gnosis for just anyone else? You think that I would say this just to everyone else? You must be thinking you're some kind of hot shit, but you are not. You are just another mortal. And yet..."
She hides her face but her tears fall into my cheek. She releases me.
"Give up Aether." She turns her back.
I use my hands to help me stand up, her punch is still painful, but I am determined.
"I cannot give up, I just can't. If I were to give up on finding her, I will keep giving up in the future. And that for me is a future even worse than death."
"Even if that means you won't be who you are anymore?"
"Even if that means I won't be who I am anymore."
"Even if your sister may not even return in the end?"
"Even if my sister may not even want to return in the end."
Yae looked back at me and smiled.
"Even if I told you I like you?"
She did not stutter, so I thought she was joking. So I am trying my best to laugh at her joke but the smile has already melted from her face.
"It's not nice to joke about something like this. "
Please laugh, and tell me that you are joking, but she did not say anything.
"Yae Miko, I respect you and adore you, but... my sister, she is the only one I had. I cannot give up on her. I wished that someway, somehow that I could save every one of us, but the truth is that I'm only one guy."
Yae sighed, "There is no convincing you is there?"
I knew it, there is no way it's true. She walks away, and while walking, she starts to talk about Makoto.
"You remind me a lot of her. Makoto was kind, she cared about everyone but that took a toll on her, that day she lost her eternity yet she still smiled. I still remember what she said to us the day she left."
"Eternity means never having to let go of what you already have. But on the other hand, it also means giving up on all other possibilities. That's just the way of the world... No one can have everything."
Yae continued with a soft voice.
"Not even the Gods."
"Aether, if you are really determined to save your sister, let me give you the charm that will help you contain the erosion."
"Why didn't you just give me in the first place?" I asked her.
"Do you want it or not?" She asked.
Fine.
"But you need to close your eyes."
I closed my eyes, but I did not feel anything.
"No more joke-" Before I could finish my sentence, she held my face and our lips met.
I did not fight it. I do not know how long it is, it felt as long as eternity, but as short as a passing thunder.
She let go of me and I fell into the ground. I look at her and her face is red.
"Believe it or not, that was my first kiss."
She continues.
"I did not lie when I told you I like you. I did not know why but I am not trying to search for the reason either. It seems too much of a hassle. Ah, you remind me a lot of Makoto, maybe that is why.
And I did not lie either when I say that it was a charm. The charm can be read as this; Everytime you are about to do something stupid, please remember that Yae MIko is waiting for you and praying for you every single day."
She smiles. My conscience just left my body, my heart is beating so fast.
"You should see the look on your own face Aether!" She laughed. I just cannot believe her, I want to be mad, but I am not, because I feel that I got the push I needed.
We walked until the end of the forest, I looked into her eyes one more time.
"Thanks Yae, I promise I won't die."
"I don't know how many people have said that to me, but none of them return."
"Well, I guess I will be the first then." I grinned.
"Hoo, where did that confidence come from?" Yae Miko teased.
It is all thanks to her, and I am sure she knows about it.
"And... about your confession. I am not sure what I feel right now, can you wait for me after I find my sister?" It was embarrassing for me, but I am sure that I need to respond to her properly."
She looked shocked, but then she laughed.
"I didn't think you would take that very seriously. Though I am happy, you really really do make me genuinely happy Aether."
I knew it, she was not serious! But maybe she is, I am not sure anymore.
"I will be waiting for you for as long as it takes, but I'd rather have it sooner than later."
"Haha, I'll go now, the ship will sail once the sun is up. Bye Miko!" I ran away, awkward, confused, joy and a lot of other emotions are filling my heart and it is overwhelming.
Yae Miko, I never wanted to admit that after everything you did for me. Never once you were not on my side, you have saved me countless times from my loneliness or from literal death. You gave away the most precious thing you had, you showed your vulnerable side to me, and you were able to breach into the deepest parts of my heart. The next time we meet again, I will surely make up my mind. But until then, Lumine is still my priority.
~~Thor's note~~
SO SO SO sorry for the long update, you know the college and all, I just check the again and holy cow a lot of you are waiting, I am truly am blessed with you guys.
There is something I want to tell you guys, but didn't have the time to do so. You guys remember the tavern event, my eula Chapter is basically the the event, less the romance. Geez, Hoyoverse should hire me to do their story (jk).
There is a few character I haven't written yet, I forget who are the heroines, comments down below who did i miss beside yun jin.
Our little secret; there is another reason I stop writing, I was... dumped, so I thought that, if I failed at my own romance, I don't really have the right to make a romance story did I? But my best friend keep supporting me and I am already much better than I was then.
Thank you for supporting Aether x Genshin Heroine.