"Hyaap!"

A swing to the right, and one to the left. Two more similar slashes, and then a powerful set of quick swings meant to send the opponent flying. A moment to regain his balance, and then repeat.

Aether found the swordplay to be relaxing, even if his opponent was nothing more than a wooden dummy. If nothing else, he was working up a sweat while getting accustomed to a heavy metal blade.

Steel was heavier than starlight, after all. Practically everything was.

It wasn't quite Dawn, but it was… actually, he didn't know much about the dull sword. He had been wandering around Paimon's house when he had come across a small shed. Inside had been a dusty mess, with everything from purplish chunks of ore to several logs of firewood. There even was a strange lyre inside, its strings a pristine blue despite the white polish yellowing and peeling off. But his eyes had zeroed in on the sword haphazardly leaning against the wall.

He had given it a few practice swings and thought that it was a rather well-made blade despite appearances. It was balanced, and its edges lacked any chips or signs of use. It was a shame that it had been so poorly maintained. But when he placed it back where it had been, the sword had disappeared with a glimmer of light.

Of course, he had freaked out. And so had Paimon when he had asked about it – though that had been entirely because of him.

-o-

"Do ghosts exist in Teyvat?"

"A… ghost? W-why do you ask?"

"I think your shed is haunted. Either that or the bunch of knickknacks you keep in there is… cursed or something."

"…what do you mean, my shed is haunted?! Kill the thing, get rid of it, do something about it! T-This lady commands you! B-but first, tell me what it looks like. D-don't describe it too well, Paimon doesn't want to hear that, but I also need to know its size so I can throw things at it, so just give a small, short description about its size and color and go!"

Huh. She really didn't like the idea of ghosts. Aether thought carefully for a moment, before summarizing it the best he can. "I picked up a sword – you really need to take better care of it, by the way – and when I put it back in its place, it disappeared."

He had to say it a bit loudly since Paimon covered her ears after the first few words and was chanting to herself.

"LAA LAA LAA, can't hear you, that was far too many details for Paimon- wait, what?"

-o-

And so, that was when Aether had another one of Paimon's Teyvat crash courses. This time about the blessings of the Seven in the form of Visions that gave ordinary people the power to manipulate one of the elements. About Blade Arts as well – the catch-all phrase for the manipulation of objects that had bonded to their users. And finally, about how he was breaking all sorts of pre-established laws when he was able to use said Blade Arts without being an Archon or having a Vision.

Even for Vision holders, it apparently took a near obsessive attachment to the object in question to form a bond. Historically, such a bond had often formed between a person and their weapon as they trained with it, wielded it in battle, and overcame hardships alongside it. Hence the name Blade Arts, despite it having been proven over and over again that the object didn't necessarily have to be a weapon.

Paimon had mentioned that she knew a kid who had created a bond with their homemade explosives and thus had an inexhaustible supply of bombs. Teyvat was weird.

As for the sword, Paimon said it was now his whether he liked it or not. Aether didn't like the implication of having bonded with a sword whose prime had definitely passed. If Dawn was a sword that brought forth new beginnings and opportunities, this dull blade was a sword that could only dream about it.

But a weapon was better than none. And he knew very well the benefits of a weapon he could dematerialize and resummon at will.

So, he had given it the name Dreamer. He had taken the time to resharpen it, reinforce it with a drop of starlight every day, and polish it till it gleamed in the sun. He was rather proud of it – its silver blade might struggle with anything tougher than a branch, but it was a far cry from the sad, dusty thing it had been three days ago.

And besides, it took well to the starlight he drip-fed to it. Surprisingly well.

In his pondering, he didn't hear a certain Archon's approach.

"Heads up!"

Aether whirled around. Something glinted in the sun before his eyes, and he caught sight of two things – daggers. They glided in the air silently, with nary a whisper of the wind as a warning. And they were coming at him at an incredible speed – in a moment, one would fly by his left cheek, the other his right ear. Perfectly thrown with plenty of distance between them so that they would swing by harmlessly unless he decided to jump up and throw his body sideways.

But that wasn't what his mind focused on.

He was being attacked. He saw the white hair and golden eyes. He was about to lose everything precious to him. An ugly mix of anger and desperation flared within him, and he responded in kind.

Offense? No, not enough time. Block and riposte.

He brought up Dreamer against the two daggers, angling it so the blade was in between them and his body.

What little starlight inside of him hummed. As soon as his guard was complete, just before the first dagger crashed against his sword, he stoked the starlight stored within.

Just for a moment, his sword shined like the morning sun. And that was when his mind caught up to what he had been doing.

Ah.

Aether would have brained his past self into unconsciousness if he was capable of doing so. But since he couldn't, since everything was too late, he just sighed and relaxed his guard.

Two smoldering knives clattered on the dirt. They glowed an angry yellow, cooling off rapidly in the pleasant spring air once it wasn't in contact with what had superheated it in an instant. His own sword lost its otherworldly glow, and he quietly thanked his own foresight for reinforcing it. It would have quickly melted into nothing more than slag otherwise.

Welp. There went all the starlight he'd been gathering for the past week. It was kind of poetic, actually – he had gathered it from Paimon with the quiet understanding that she had allowed it, only for her to accidentally make him use it all.

"Woah, that was so cool! Was that actual, honest to gods starlight you just used-? Ah."

Paimon's grin faded just as quickly once she saw his expression.

"Um… woops," Paimon said, looking away. Now that he wasn't so focused, he noticed that she was wearing a white tee with black shorts – very informal compared to the flowing dresses she liked to wear. "Did I startle- what am I talking about, of course I did. Sorry about that. I just thought… never mind."

It's not your fault, it's mine, Aether wanted to say. But this time, the words stuck in his throat.

"…it's fine," he said instead, shaking his head. "Sorry, I guess I'm still a bit jumpy. Will your knives be okay?"

"Oh, they'll be fine. Blade Arts, remember?" With a glimmer of light, the knives faded away, only to reappear in Paimon's waiting hands in pristine condition. She spun them around her fingers with ease before throwing them straight up to the sky.

He knew that it was the most common trick in the book – his eyes would naturally follow the knives' gentle arc and fall, leaving him distracted for a precious few seconds. He trained his eyes on Paimon instead, knowing that she was planning something.

So, he had a full view of one knife falling into her right hand – as she had undoubtedly planned for – and for the other one nearly falling on her head if she hadn't dematerialized it first – which she undoubtedly had not planned for. Within a single moment, it flicked back into existence on her left hand.

Paimon bowed dramatically, pretending nothing had happened. "Ta-da~!"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Nice catch – I particularly loved the second one."

"Shaddup it was perfect I'm out of practice you didn't see anything." With that said in a single breath, Paimon rolled her eyes and tossed her two daggers into non-existence. "So, you don't remember anything new? Using sword fighting to trigger memories was a bust?"

"Well, not completely, but nothing I remembered is particularly useful. I know now that I used to wield a miniature star that had been shaped into a sword named Dawn, but I don't have anywhere near the starlight to do that." Aether tried tossing his sword behind him and willed for it to disappear. The resulting thud told him that no, it hadn't been dismissed in time. "Dreamer has a lot of prestige to live up to."

Paimon mouthed 'miniature star' quietly, and raised an eyebrow when he shrugged. "You're weird."

"Thanks, you too."

"Ha! Mystery man, you're definitely the weirder of the two of us!"

As that particular topic descended into a lighthearted debate, Aether's mind wandered.

He had gotten a sword. The extra starlight he'd been quietly accumulating was all gone. It had been seven days since he woke up here – and seven seemed to be an important number in Teyvat.

If all of this weren't a sign that Aether had overstayed his welcome, then he didn't know what was.

-o-

"I'm planning to leave tomorrow morning," Aether bowed. "Thank you for your hospitality."

It was right after he had placed the pot on their dining table. As usual, he had cooked while she had gone and changed into one of her flowing dresses. Rather than pondering about which ingredients he could combine this time, however, he had been more concerned as to how his host would react to his planned departure.

As he had expected, Paimon immediately and loudly expressed her disapproval.

"Already? But you haven't recovered enough! I thought you wanted to stay for a couple more weeks, maybe another month or two." What he didn't expect was for her to grimace and look away. "Did I… make you uncomfortable this morning? If it's that, I can promise you that I won't do that again."

Oh. Despite her laughter and usual cheer, the incident in the morning hadn't left Paimon's mind.

"Please don't think that it's because of you," Aether pleaded. It was one thing to leave on friendly terms – another to leave with the both of them harboring doubts and regrets. "You sheltered me, gave me food, and saved me from maybe centuries of starlight-less limbo. It's just that… I can't stay idle forever. I need to start looking for my sister."

Every moment he lingered here was potentially a moment where his twin grew farther away from him. In the long run, Paimon was correct – a few weeks was nothing compared to the unknown amount of time he'd spent wasting away on a river, let alone the time he spent completely unresponsive to the world. Moving about while he was still recovering was a terrible idea, not to mention that his only source of starlight seemed to be the Archon in front of him.

Still, time waited for no one. And he would never forgive himself if he missed finding his sister due to a couple weeks' delay.

Paimon's frown lessened but didn't disappear. "…fine. What do you plan to do, then?"

"You said Mondstadt was the closest city, right? The city of freedom and music." When Paimon slowly nodded, Aether continued. "I'll start my search there. I'll spread her name everywhere I can alongside the fact that I'm looking for her. Maybe spend a month or two while I do that." Talking with the locals wouldn't take much time, but persuading them to keep an eye out for her and go out of their way to contact him? He fully expected that manual labor will soon be on his agenda, whether it be for currying favor or earning money. "After that, I'll head to the nearest city, and do everything again."

"You're not planning to meet the other Archons?" Paimon asked. The food in front of them was ignored by both of them – a tragedy, since the stew with proper vegetables he had made this time would have been far heartier than sweet flower soup. "They have eyes and ears everywhere in their nation. I'm sure that they're far more likely to know rather than some random people you find off the street."

That was a good point, but… "If I can, yes. I don't think I can waltz up to an Archon and ask for help, though. Especially if they've been slipping in and out of history like the Anemo Archon."

"Alright, that seems reasonable. So, when are we leaving?"

"At the crack of dawn…" Aether's mind ground to a halt. "Wait, we?"

"I'll be going with you!" Paimon declared. "With me as your guide, you won't have any trouble navigating around Teyvat. And besides, I can help you find the Archons. If anyone ought to have more information about your sister or the Unknown God, it's the Seven."

"What? No, you've done enough for me already-"

"Nope! I already made up my mind, you ain't changing it, mystery man. Now, I admit that I might not know all of the changes to the Seventy-Two that have occurred in the past thousand years or so, but the Seven for sure I can help you with-"

"No," Aether interrupted. Firmly. The steel in his voice had Paimon sit up, frowning. "No, I can't accept this. You've done far too much for me without asking for a single thing in return. I've intruded in your house and time for long enough, you can go back to doing whatever you did before you had to take care of me-"

"Then let me help you, you idiot! It's something I WANT to do!" Her vehement denial stunned him, and that was all she needed to continue her tirade. "Okay, do you know how to greet a Favonius Knight? Or how about which road to take if you don't want to walk into a Hilichurl camp, or when the Rite of Descension or the Ludi Harpastum will be taking place? You don't even have any mora, let alone know the proper prices of general goods you can haggle it for."

"All of that are temporary problems at most," Aether retorted. Okay, fine, he was worried about all that, but he was a Traveler. He wasn't some wide-eyed beginner barely able to wield a sword. "I'll learn through my experiences, from both the current and my past."

"Experiences that you don't remember all of? Alright, fine, then. Here's a better question: what can you do to stop me from coming with you? I have the freedom to do what I want, you know, and that includes following around stubborn, amnesic aliens who don't know their own limits."

"Please don't call me that ever again." Even as he said that his mind was racing, trying to find a flaw in her admittedly reasonable logic. What could he use to stop her-?

"Aether." The sheer bitterness in her voice stopped his train of thought. "Just tell me the truth. It's because I look like her, isn't it?"

Ah.

So she had known.

He closed his eyes, seeing no reason to hide it anymore. "…yes. Whenever I look into your eyes…"

"You see her, instead of me," Paimon finished. "It wasn't hard to figure out, especially since you'd been peering into my eyes all day the first day and never again since. Even if the only thing we have in common is our hair. You know, most women wouldn't like it if you keep comparing her with someone else in your mind." Paimon's voice was deceptively mild – so very much, that he couldn't tell what emotion she was hiding. Anger? Annoyance? Pity?

In the end, there wasn't much he could say.

"I'm sorry."

Aether hated goodbyes.

That was a deep, instinctual part of him that he knew even without most of his memories. What was the point of it all when he knew that he would never meet the person in front of him again? False promises that felt like ash in his mouth, pretty words that meant nothing after a mere decade, and emotions that he could only cling to for so long before they exhausted him. No, he would much rather remember the happy times they had spent together.

A goodbye only soured whatever memories he had made and it was no different here. He waited, still not meeting Paimon's eyes, for the order to get out of her house. He would quietly comply – he owed her far too much to do anything else-

"Well, thankfully, I'm not most women. Anyways, that's pretty easy to solve, isn't it?"

Startled, he looked up.

A familiar dagger appeared in her hand with a glimmer of light. Paimon shook her head, bunched up her flowing hair in one hand, and with it-

Without a single moment of hesitation, she dragged it against her hair in one, clean upwards stroke.

White fluttered down the room.

"There we go," Paimon dusted off her hands and smiled. Her significantly shorter hair bounced against her cheeks, slightly curled at the edges. "Yep, you're looking at me and you aren't tensing up anymore. Problem solved. Hmm, how do I look though? I know I don't quite make the cut for that mature beauty all the drunk bards love to prattle on about, but I can work with being adorable!" In a moment, she was quickly checking her reflection using the pot in front of her, the stew completely forgotten and cold.

He closed his eyes. This… this Archon. There really was no stopping her, was there? "You didn't have to do that," he eventually said, looking at the mess of white hair that was on the dining table. The hair wasn't as important as the messages Paimon was sending. That she would go above and beyond just for the opportunity to tag along his journey. That she was perceptive, decisive, and determined in doing whatever she could to stick with him. That there wasn't anything that he could do to stop her from joining, and any arguments would be either countered, solved, or ignored.

"Just why?" The words slipped out of his mouth, and she paused in her checking. "You're going so far for me, a stranger you met a week ago. Why are you going this far?"

"It's simple. Whoever the Unknown God is, she hurt you. She tore apart two people born under the same constellation, and I can't help but feel that I have to be the one to help fix that." Her cheer dimmed, and her hands clasped together in earnest solidarity. "As an Archon born of this world- no, as a friend of yours, I apologize for the pain you have felt, the pain you feel right now, and the pain you will feel during this journey of finding your sister. Let me do the right thing and help you."

For the first time in a while, Aether looked at her in the eyes.

It was the same as the first day he had met her – a singular dot of white surrounded by black. And yet, it was a far more enchanting sight than anything the night sky could offer.

No hints of gold overtaking her eyes. No splitting headaches, no billowing white hair, and no whispered words that he would desperately try to make sense of. Just an outstretched hand with a silent promise, eyes filled with stars and warmth, and a gentle smile.

In the end, he never stood a chance, did he?

Aether took her hand, smiling wryly all the while. They shook on it.

"Alright, then. Let's journey together, Paimon."

With that, the prologue is almost done! A small bonus scene will be up by tomorrow, and then the adventure in Teyvat begins in earnest, woo! Hopefully, I find the motivation to write for long enough to actually get somewhere with the plot, because this opening act took over two months to go anywhere. I kept changing things last minute, adding things, and delaying actually posting for so long.

Anyways, off I go to Sumeru! I'm the type who HAS to unlock all the teleports before I hop onto the story for maximum viewing pleasure, so the suspense has been killing me.

Update 08/26: Fixed typos, cleared up a few sentences. That's what I get for proofreading after midnight, woops.