Chapter 19 - A warning, a lost wish, and broken hope
Aether POV -
I was about to leave for Dragonspine, but decided to go meet Asmoday before going.
On the way, I found some weird monsters, but easily defeated them. Xiao had said that this was happening because of the Karma debt that Asmoday absorbed from his body.
I talked with his grave for some time, before Paimon found me.
"Aether! Why did you leave Paimon behind!?" she shouted.
i patted her head.
"Sorry Paimon. I wanted to meet Asmoday before we left" I said.
She nodded and kept a chicken mushroom skewers next to the grave, before we left.
When we reached Dragonspine, some of the adventurers there told us to be careful if we were going to climb the mountain during the day.
"Why is that? Shouldn't it be easier during the day?" Paimon asked.
"It is because of the Seelie's weird behavior " Cyrus said.
"What are you doing here Cyrus?" I asked.
"Jean must have asked you to investigate the Seelie. The adventurer's guild has been investigating them for some time now. We have found out that all warming Seelie vanish during the day. This makes traveling a lot harder" he said.
"And what's up with all those people behind you?" Paimon asked.
"Haha. The seelie try to guide humans to something important. And their weird behavior makes the mountain easy to traverse in during the night. What adventurers would we be, if we don't use this opportunity!" he said as all the adventurers behind him gave a loud cheer.
"Come on Paimon. Let's set up a tent before all good spots are finished" I said as we left.
When it started getting dark, Cyrus called me and said that they were leaving.
We started the trek and soon some seelie started appearing near the top of the mountain.
"Aether! Look at this one" Paimon said.
One of the Pyro seelie was trying to sit on Paimon's nose.
"Hmm? That's weird. Seelie usually guide people from a distance. Maybe this one is trying to say something. You should follow it Aether" Cyrus said.
We took his advice and started following it.
Rest of the adventurers followed the major path that the seelie had made to the top.
Our seelie too us to a small opening where hundreds of Pyro and anemo seelie were circling something.
"What are the seelie trying to do? Let's go and check it out closely" Paimon said.
We went closer and saw there was nothing.
Suddenly all the Seelie started flying in a straight line, and the one in the front looked like it was sitting on something.
We followed them to the skyfrost nail, where they circled around it before making a small pyro swirl.
Some of them got closer to us and sat on something invisible, or someone invisible.
The Seelie made the rough shape of a person that pointed at the moon, before all the Seelie made a straight line towards it.
Something about the moon.
I tried looking closer but only saw Celestia. Was something going on there?
The seelie returned next to us as we glided down the Skyfrost nail.
When we landed, they covered the invisible person as they used a small pyro swirl to melt some snow.
I saw that a message was melted on the snow.
"Beware, Ae" Paimon read it loudly.
There was only one person who called me Ae.
I quickly turned towards the Seelie person, but they had already left.
"Paimon. He's still here. Isn't he?" I asked in a shaking voice.
"Yeah" she responded before hugging me, as both of us stated crying.
*King crimson!*
I had taken pictures of the Seelie activity and the message and we returned to Mond to show Jean our findings.
Albedo met us when we were returning and joined us.
"Ah! Aether. You're back and you brought Albedo" Jean said.
I gave her the images of the seelie.
"They are pointing at the moon. Celestia to be specific" I said.
"But what are they trying to say?" Jean asked.
"A warning and a message. Aether, show Jean the photos you took" Albedo said.
I showed her the message Asmoday left us and the seelie covering him.
"Beware, Ae" she said loudly.
"Aether. There's no way he's still here" Lisa said.
"No. It is possible. The seelie are doing all this while listening to someone. They aren't smart enough to make a coordinated message alone" Albedo said.
"But it could be any ghost" Lisa said.
"Normal ghosts can't interact with Seelie. No one can. Asmoday isn't from this world so it could be possible for him" Albedo said.
"I'm going to contact Hu Tao and ask her is she can tell us something" I told them before I left.
Hu Tao POV -
I was sitting with Xiao and Zhongli while we drunk some tea Zhongli made.
Suddenly Paimon called me.
"Hu Tao! And Zhongli and Xiao are here too. This make things easier" she said.
"Paimon. How can we help?" Zhongli asked as I squeezed her.
Aether sat next to me and pulled out some photos.
"We went to investigate strange behavior of Seelie in Dragonspine when we found this" he said.
'Beware, Ae'
It can't be him.
"Aether... this is" I said.
"I think it's him. That's why we came to aske you for help" he said.
"But I've looked at the other side. No ghost came from there when Asmoday died!" I said.
"No. It is possible. Asmoday isn't from this world so it's possible that his soul interacts with this world in a different way" Zhongli said.
"Did he tell you anything from his world?" Zhongli asked.
"Not much. He was suffering from amnesia. But one thing he said was weird. According to him, this isn't his real body. He looked different in his old world" Aether said.
"That means he can't pass on to the after life without his real body. His soul is different so he can't interact with us like most ghosts" Zhongli said.
"Aether. Take me where you saw Asmoday. I'm going to exorcise his soul" Xiao said.
"XIAO! What are you saying!?" Paimon shouted.
"What are you talking about!? Asmoday can't interact with us and he can't rest. Do you want him to keep on suffering alone? It has been months! He has been all alone!" Xiao shouted back.
"Unfortunately, Xiao is correct. Asmoday has been suffering for so long. Exorcising him would be better for him" Zhongli said.
"I- Alright. But can you try to contact him first? I want to save him if possible" Aether said.
"I will try to" Zhongli said as all of them left.
"Boo Tao? We're going to save our friend!" I said as we ran behind them.
Aether POV -
I didn't want to loose Asmoday again, but what Xiao said made sense.
We tried to contact him by using an old Adepti art on his grave, but nothing happened.
"This must be done Aether" Zhongli said.
"I know... it's just... I don't want to loose him again" I said.
"How are you going to attack him though?" Paimon asked.
"There is an ancient art used by gods when they want their souls to be destroyed. It isn't the same as Asmoday's abilites as a god slayer, but it should end his suffering" Zhongli said.
When we reached Dragonspine, it was already evening.
The seelie were gathering near the skyfrost nail and we arrived there.
"Something is wrong with Celestia" Zhongli said as he looked at the line of Seelie.
I didn't get to ask him more about is, when Asmoday came closer to us, while he was covered in Seelie.
Xiao got behind him, as Zhongli tried talking with him.
"I'm sorry" Xiao said as he attacked Asmoday with a weird attack.
Surprisingly, his spear stopped mid air.
"Oh no you don't!" Hu Tao shouted as she pushed Xiao back.
"Hu Tao! Don't stop it now!" Zhongli said.
Xiao's spear was pulled out in the middle of killing Asmoday and the Seelie figure dropped on his knees.
There was a weird scream as Asmoday's catalyst appeared next to him.
Then, it all stopped.
The seelie vanished and the catalyst fell on the ground.
"Did we do it?" I asked Zhongli.
" I thin-" he got cut off by a loud explosion.
Meteorites were falling!
"Quick! Run!" Zhongli shouted as we escaped Dragonspine.
*King crimson*
The next day we found out that the meteorites had fallen all over Teyvat and were making anyone who touches them sleep.
We asked Mona and Fischl for help and they were able to destroy most of them.
Mona said that these once belonged to someone's constellation.
Leonard, an ancient adventure who wanted to climb a mountain that no longer exists.
We found the largest meteorite at an island called Musk Reef.
After we destroyed it, a Fatui harbinger caught up to us.
"The stars, the sky... It's all a gigantic hoax. A lie" he said.
"You managed to wake up from the meteor's effects on your own?" Mona asked.
"I don't need to answer you" the harbinger said before attacking us, but Mona teleported us.
"What he said... It makes some sense" I said.
"Aether, what are you saying!? I am the greatest astrologist in Teyvat and I can confirm that the sky and my astrology are real" she said.
"No. Think about it. Asmoday warned me about something wrong with Celestia when these meteors started falling" I said.
Mona got irritated and left us.
A few days later activity of the Abyss order increased a lot.
I managed to catch an abyss mage.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked
"What do you mean!? How do you not realize what's happening!? The ruler of the fake sky has been corrupted! The eclipsed moon is coming!" it said before teleporting away.
Again. The fake sky.
I went to dragonspine that night. The seelie had returned to normal, but sometimes I could see them following something.
Asmoday was still there, but he didn't try to contact me anymore.
I was sitting on the skyfrost nail when I saw it.
Black corruption spreading from Celestia as it slowly covered the moon.
I quickly returned to Mond and told Jean about all that had happened.
She increased the protection of Mond and asked the Liyue Qixing to do the same.
Slowly, it became easier to spot the moon slowly turning black, when one night it vanished.
"Is it just me, or did the moon really vanish?" Paimon asked.
"It really vanished" Xiao said.
We had been staying in Liyue while we helped them in increasing the protection in small villages in mountains.
Suddenly the moon reappeared. This time, pure black as Celestia glowed in front of it.
The sky began cracking and all the stars turned black.
(There was my drawing here. You can see it on my Tumblr if you want)
"The eclipsed moon" I mumbled as demonic screaming started coming from everywhere.
"Aether! Come on! We need to help people!" Paimon shouted.
"Coming!" I replied as I ran behind her and Xiao.
(Y/N) POV -
After I met Ae on Dragonspine, I decided to leave a message for him.
Fortunately, he understood that it was from me.
Seeing him again the next day was quite surprising for me. He even brought Zhongli with him.
After the seelie did their daily routine, I asked some of them to cover me so I could tell the others that I was here.
Zhongli started asking me about how I was doing and how did I interact with this world after my death.
I thought that he was going to do something to let me interact with others but I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back.
"I'm sorry" Xiao said, as he stabbed me.
Hu Tao jumped between us and managed to push Xiao back.
When the spear was pulled out of my body, a weird scream left me. I could feel my soul disappearing.
I tried to save myself and managed to summon my catalyst, but everything went black before I could do anything.
When I woke up, a few days had passed. My soul was damaged now, and only the seele that were on my body were able to see me.
Rest of the seelie had gone back to normal and adventurers started coming back to Dragonspine during the day.
I heard some of them talking and found out about Leonard's constellation falling on the ground.
That's weird. Constellations are supposed to be stars, not meteors.
Then I finally remembered. Celestia was getting corrupted.
I saw Ae sitting on the skyfrost nail but didn't go closer to him.
He wanted me gone, so I was scared to go near him.
He finally noticed the corruption coming from Celestia and quickly returned to Mond.
I tried to randomly explore Dragonspine as my soul slowly healed when I found some Abyss mages.
I followed them, and they went to the place where Xiao tried to kill me.
I was wondering what they were doing when one of them pulled out my Catalyst.
So that's where it went!
They opened a portal where I was stabbed and started concentrating weird black energy there.
I was about to leave them when I felt something pulling me.
I turned around and saw something that looked like a tentacle coming out of the portal, wrapped around me.
One of the mages turned towards me.
"We're sorry for what our attempt at making you a god slayer did. The princess wants to talk with you, please follow us" it said.
I didn't have anything else to do and my friends wanted me gone, so I asked the seelie to cover me as I went closer to the mages.
"Thank you for forgiving us" the mage said with a small bow as it jumped inside the portal.
The other mages said they were needed to maintain the portal and I should jump quickly.
I said fuck it, and jumped.
I woke up inside an ancient castle. The abyss mage came closer to me.
"Are you alright?" it asked.
I nodded and it took me outside the room.
There were hundreds of Abyss mages and some weird looking things everywhere.
So this was the Abyss Order's HQ.
Honestly, I expected it to look a lot more... primitive.
The abyss mage went in front of a giant door to talk with one of the weird things.
"Is the princess ready?" it asked.
The weird thing nodded and opened the door.
"Princess. I've brought him" the mage said as it bowed.
"Leave us alone. We need to talk" the princess said and the mage left.
Wait... that voice!
"We meet again... Asmoday" she said as the abyss corruption covering her vanished.
LUMINE!
Yay! New chapter :D
I finally got time to write this (:
A long one as an apology for not uploading for a few days. My update schedule will be weird for some time
Only one exam left and that's on Monday :D
