Aether stared in morbid fascination at the scene of devastation in front of him.

"Mmm… This is some real gourmet soup!"

Paimon. His savior, and thus, someone he owed a debt towards. An Archon in this world called Teyvat, one who represented and maintained power over an aspect of reality. The short lady who barely came up to his chin and jabbered quicker than a songbird.

Right now, she was gorging herself on the vegetable soup he had managed to cook with the salvaged ingredients from her kitchen. And she was going at it really enthusiastically, slurping away at the bowl that she had been suspiciously poking at not even three minutes ago.

He couldn't help but laugh. "You know, the food isn't going to run away."

"Mmm, but it's just so good! Like, how did you manage this much flavor with just flowers and leaves?!" He noticed that in her excitement her eyes literally sparkled with tiny stars – a true reflection of the night sky.

…okay, Aether admitted it might have been a little creepy when he kept peering into Paimon's eyes like that. In his defense, he found it easier to talk with her when he focused on her eyes. Besides, he wasn't being subtle about it and she hadn't said anything.

"Just a bit of instinct. I have been traveling for a while, you know."

"Nope, mystery man, I want more details! How didya cook this, how, how?"

No, it was almost all instinct, Aether realized. He didn't know any of these plants, yet he had been tossing them into the simmering pot after a brief inspection at most. Heck, they could be drinking slow-acting poison for all he knew.

He took in a spoonful of it, trying to tease out the reasoning from himself. The cloying sweetness was a bit too much for him, but at least Paimon seemed to like it.

"The yellow flowers seemed to be practically bursting with nectar. It's a bit strange how its biology made it produce so much, actually-"

"Oh! That must have been a sweet flower. They grow practically everywhere in Teyvat. The slimes of the garden, they say. That, and mint. Wait, I had sweet flowers in my kitchen? Why did I have sweet flowers in my kitchen?"

Aether inwardly wondered about who had named a flower by describing its taste but decided not to press it. "And for the mint, what I used was just a single leave, mostly just to take off the edge of the natural bitterness that's present in most flowers. Any more than that and it would have ruined the hot soup."

"Well, chief, I definitely approve! If you can cook this with just the things around my house, then I can't imagine what you can do with the expensive stuff. You know, high-quality cuts of ham, Liyue's famously fresh crabs, or maybe even crab roe…" For a moment, Aether swore he saw a miniature supernova in Paimon's eyes – they gleamed that brightly with gluttony. "Mmm… I dub thee the minor Archon of cooking. May you be blessed with your chief's instincts whenever you cook for me!"

Wait, what?

For a moment, he awaited with bated breath. Titles held power, after all. It was only when he saw Paimon looking at him curiously that he realized.

"That was a joke, wasn't it?"

She flicked her spoon at him, nodding. "Yep. Only the death of an Archon can lead to a new one. The Seventy-Two titles may ebb and flow, but the number of Pillars will remain the same."

"What about the Seven Archons? Are they any different? And does the name Pillars mean anything different from Archons?" Aether barely caught himself from leaning forward too eagerly. He was probably breaking every rule in the How to be a Decent Houseguest book, but he was far too desperate to know anything about the world he found himself in.

Paimon took the time to slurp away at her soup before thumping down her bowl, a serious look on her face. Well, as serious as she could be while wiping some soup off her mouth. "Alright, mystery man, history time. So, we were once called the Seventy-Two Pillars. Then the Archon war happened around two thousand years ago, we lost a few, we gained just as many. The Seven are the Seven because they are the strongest, and they have proved themselves to be the strongest. They have to be to maintain the seven elements of this world."

She was being remarkably nonchalant about admitting her own kind's passing.

"Still, they follow the same rules we all do – only two of the original Seven remain, after all," Paimon continued. "I heard Sumeru's having a bit of an issue because of it. The Dendro Archon passed away like, what, five hundred years ago? And they don't like the poor kid who inherited the Dendro title despite her being strong enough to wipe away the entire desert off the map. The idiots are lucky she's such a sweetie. Oh, and Archons, Pillars, gods, they all mean the same thing, really."

Her eyes darted over to her soup for a moment but returned to meet his. "...as for the rest of them, they either inherited a past title or grew to gain a new one entirely. Most of the time, they don't have control over what titles they gain. Oh, and before you ask, I was one of the original Seventy-Two - not to brag, but Rank Nine meant yours truly used to have that much influence! Though, I don't know about now. The old rank system was abolished after too many died in the Archon war since the young ones would have killed themselves trying to prove their strength."

Aether leaned back into his chair, lost in thought. All this history, all these names were completely new to him. He filtered out the unimportant details, made a note of the terminology, and cataloged the important questions in his mind. He was left with…

"What is this… Archon War you keep mentioning?"

Paimon sighed. "I'm legally not allowed to expand on that."

"…what?"

"I'm under a… contract, I guess. Except, is it really a contract if someone you trusted strongarms you into signing it? A spear held under your throat in one hand and a mountain ready to crush everything you care about in the other. Morax doesn't pull any punches. The oldest of the Seven, by the way – the God of Contracts, the Groundbreaker, the Warrior God, and a whole lot more." She crossed her arms and grumbled under her breath. "God of Commerce, the Prime of Adepti, and the Lord of Geo. You know someone has too many titles when it takes half a minute to recite them all."

"I… see…" Someone had to keep order in the Seventy-Two and it looked like this Morax figure was the one to do it. Then….

Aether licked his suddenly dry lips. "Does… does the God of Contracts have long white hair? Calls herself the Sustainer, maybe?"

"What- pfft, no! He's not-" Paimon broke off into giggling, and he did his best to not look like he was going to jump over the table and throttle her for answers. He reminded himself that he was the guest, and he already owed far too much to her hospitality.

"…sorry, sorry!" she said as she gathered herself, grinning all the while. "I just imagined the grumpy old man in my dress. I'm so going to ask him to wear this the next time I meet him. But no, old man Morax is as far as you can get from my dazzling fabulousness. And trust me, if he didn't like you, you would already be buried under a mountain or two. This Unknown God of yours isn't him."

The tension in him melted away, probably for the best. He probably wouldn't have gotten too far in his state. And what was he going to do when he met someone titled the Warrior God? He couldn't even dodge two fish properly and he was already thinking of going against someone who wielded mountains.

In the end, he sighed. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy.

There was one other thing that stuck out for Aether. "You said that you hold power over the constellations. And yet you're still considered a minor Archon these years."

"Yep. Well, hehe, maybe power is the wrong word for it, more like a little bit of influence and a whole lot of knowledge."

"To hold influence over the stars is to wield the power to shape galaxies," Aether frowned. He would be lying if there wasn't some heat creeping into his voice. "As a Starwalker, I'm offended that you aren't one of the Seven."

Pyro. Hydro. Electro. Cryo. Dendro. Anemo. Geo. Seven elements for seven nations, under the rule of the Seven Archons. But how could elements limited to this world compare to the boundless celestial heavens themselves?

Though, Paimon was shaking her head even before he finished his sentence. "No, no, I think you're misunderstanding something. Not the stars, not the night sky, and definitely not the galaxies themselves – I'm the Archon of constellations, the patterns people draw and find comfort from the night sky. I'm happy with it, though. You ought to know that I even have a few astrologists that worship me!"

When she continued to cackle and whisper, 'Oh, the misguided fools,' under her breath, he couldn't help but sigh again. Well, it wasn't for him to tell people what to believe in, minor Archon or otherwise.

It's just… he hadn't ever met anyone who could also wield starlight before. And that made him curious.

Was being an Archon what allowed her to wield starlight? Or was it just her because of her title, making her possibly the only Archon out of seventy-two that could have saved him from centuries of recovery?

If that was the case, that would have been an incredible coincidence – one Aether did not believe in.

"Hmm… a Starwalker? I don't think I ever heard of that term before." Paimon's musing interrupted his thoughts. Now that her history class was over, she was slowly sipping away at the dredges of her dinner. "Can you actually walk on stars? Ooh, and since you're apparently running on star juice, just how much power do you have over the stars? Please, please, show me just one of your tricks-?"

This time, it was his turn to be shaking his head before she finished talking. "No, a more accurate name would be someone who travels in between the stars. I walk the path that connects galaxy to galaxy, planet to planet. And no," he added, "I don't hold power over the stars themselves."

He wouldn't be in this predicament if he did.

With one final slurp, she finished her soup. Despite her multitasking, her eyes never left him.

"You know, showing me a trick or two would go a long way in me believing you..."

Aether winced at the silent accusation. "I… can't do it right now. I don't have the starlight for it, and I can't remember how to do it. I can't remember anything important about my travels."

Silence reigned, as Paimon considered his words.

"Of all the possibilities in the world, I would never have guessed that my starlight will be used by an amnesiac alien," she eventually said. When she noticed him finally glancing away, she immediately raised both hands. "No, no, don't take it the wrong way, I don't regret helping you out! It's just… odd. And unusual."

Aether couldn't deny that.

"Like, I was ready for a sob story, maybe an adventurer turned bandit turned exile turned hero, or a merchant ruined by Hilichurls and begging me to invest in his totally foolproof, quadrupling investment genius plan. Wouldn't be the first time even in this decade," she muttered thoughtfully, before shaking her head. "I was even ready for someone of the Seventy-Two having kicked the bucket with you appearing as their replacement. But instead, I get you, a person who claims to walk between stars but can't right now. All pretty unbelieve if you ask me."

"Luckily for you, I might have a way to verify everything you said." With that, Paimon opened her palm and a small constellation revealed itself at her fingertips. Alongside, he noticed again, a small drop of starlight.

"So just answer this." A sudden cold stare, a hard frown – despite the short time he knew her, he knew that was unusual for her. "Does this constellation mean anything to you, Aether?"

Aether studied the collection of stars. It was about fifteen stars in total, with lines connecting them seemingly at random. If he squinted hard enough, he could make out a frying pan connected to a half-complete ladle. The line connecting them could be a hanger, he supposed.

Something told him that despite his long and storied past, his artistic talent left a lot to be desired.

It was the same one she had studied when she introduced herself. And just like last time, he couldn't recognize it.

Was it better to lie? He knew she was no stranger to violence – her aim with the fish proved it if her being older than two thousand years didn't imply it already. Would she turn hostile? Wait, would she even know if he lied?

In the end, he decided to stick with the truth. It hadn't let him down so far.

"No. I don't know anything about it."

"Cool, because I don't either! Alright, I guess you are saying the truth." Her carefree answer left him stumbling out of his chair. Paimon giggled. "What, did you think I was going to kick you out? Sorry, mystery man, you're going to have to cook a fair more dishes for me to ever forgive you."

"Well, thanks for nearly giving me a heart attack," Aether snarked, settling down on his chair. Paimon grinned, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "So, what does it mean? Will you tell me what is it about this constellation that made you trust me, or should I start calling you mystery lady?"

"Hey, I'm the one giving out nicknames!" Paimon protested with a laugh. "But sure. I know all of the constellations of this world – the stars that are a part of it, their names, their locations in the sky, and the meanings they hold. It comes with the title. But this one?" she prodded at it, sending it spinning gently. "I don't know anything about it. Well, anything but its name."

"And that is?"

"The Gemini. Or the twins, to be exact."

Aether's heart froze.

Twins. The word resonated with him, why? Hadn't he been alone in all of his journeys? Didn't he have no one he could call family? Why, why, why, why-

Maybe-! A thought occurred and Aether acted on it immediately before he could doubt himself.

He looked at Paimon's face, really looked at her instead of flitting over her face or focusing just on her eyes like he had done the entire time, and masked her eyes with gold in his mind.

Pain split his head not a moment later.

Your sister- shall serve- purpose.

So, he did have a sister. What was her name? He shivered, going through all and any feminine names that he could think of and trying to feel if one felt… special in his mind. A hint of recognition, a flash of memories, a small recollection – anything at all.

Come on, what was it, he had to remember it, remember it, REMEMBER IT-

It was… Lu… Lumi-

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" He found himself being shaken out of his trance, warm hands gripping his shoulder. Gold faded from his view to be replaced by a panicking Paimon. "You're definitely not okay, there's blood dripping out of your nose, and your heartbeat is unstable as heck, stop whatever that you're doing-!"

"…Lumine," Aether gasped out, finding breathing to be far much harder. The room around them was spinning, but Paimon remained in front of him, anchoring him to reality. He forced himself to speak, if only because he wanted someone, anyone, to know.

"I-I think I had a twin sister."

That was all he could say before the world settled to black once again.

And that's a wrap! Aether's got a difficult journey ahead of him – and believe me, despite his track record, he's not going to be fainting again anytime soon. There were a few months in between the protagonist waking up and fishing up Paimon – I have a feeling the time had a lot to do with recovery. And I apologize for the lore dumps – had to get the info out somehow, and I didn't want to bog down several future conversations by trying to force the relevant info in.

Did anyone notice that in the last chapter, by the way? In canon the protagonist fishes out Paimon from a lake and saves her, setting the tone for their relationship. A bit different here, hehe.

And man, am I excited for Sumeru! I'm saving my gems for the little Lesser Lord Radish herself. I just finished pitying Yoimiya so hopefully, I could gather enough if I skip two-ish banners.