Slight spoilers for Inazuma's Archon Quest and Venti's Story Quest.
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The Breeze That Brings You Home
#AetherShipWeek2022 - Aether/Venti
Day 1 - "Every time I close my eyes, it's like a dark paradise." - Dark Paradise, Lana Del Rey
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Just speak your wishes when there's a breeze… It will carry your wish to Barbatos.
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The stars adorning the sky glint with the brightest light. With one hand, Aether reaches out to the vast sky—while with the other hand, he grips on the bottle of cider tighter. The sky looks the same wherever he sees them from; whether he's in Inazuma, Liyue, or just on top of the statue's palm like this.
"Care to share the rest of your cider with me?"
The melodious playful voice calls out in the quiet night. And Aether can only let out a thin smile before passing the cider in his hand to his dearest bard.
For Aether, the journey he'd need to tread to find his sister only gets harsher and harsher. It's only a little bit of extra weight with each step, yet not knowing how close he is to his destination—the dread haunts him.
Nonetheless, the unchanging scenery from the first city he arrived at always managed to calm him. That—along with the man humming simple tunes while enjoying cider by his side.
Each time the breeze sweeps across his face, Venti's tune quiets down while his leg nudges his.
Aether closes his eyes every time it happens, feeling the warm breeze on his face and playfully hooking his leg with Venti's. The plaza is usually bustling with crowds during the day, while at night—only Aramis from the Knights are patrolling the area. And even then, their quiet laughs are heard by no one.
Moving his attention from the sky to the man sitting on his side, from the position where he's lying; he can only see Venti's small back, with a cape resembling a pair of folded wings.
He reaches his hand out to touch them, feeling the soft fabric on his fingers.
Venti turns his head around, revealing slightly pink cheeks with a wide grin on his face. The view of Starsnatch Cliff and the moon shining bright behind him makes him look even more ethereal.
The breeze plays with his hair, "what is it, Aether?"
"Grace from the Church once told me," Aether snakes his hand to search for Venti's hand, before Venti finds his—and intertwines them together. "The breeze brings their prayers and wishes to you—to Barbatos. Is it true?"
"It's true. I can hear their wishes no matter how far they are."
"Can you hear mine? Or does it only apply to Mondstadters?"
Venti chuckles. He empties the bottle of cider—Aether's cider—then does the same as Aether and lies down by his side. Both their legs dangling in the air.
"The breeze has been telling me of your adventure. If not, then how would I write poems of your tale?" Venti squeezes his hand, the smile on his face turns wistful. "Although … only as far as the wind can reach you."
"Are you talking about Mare Jivari? Where the wind can't reach?"
"That's one of them, but not all. For example, domains that are still actively ruled like the one Old Madame Ping made you enter, or…" Venti pauses, his breath falls silent. "… the mighty Raiden Shogun's Plane of Euthymia."
Along Aether's travel across the nations, sometimes he can feel the wind blowing on him feels familiar. Like it brings along the scent of morning dew under the large tree that he misses. Or the sweet smell of apples, freshly picked from the tree.
The breeze calms him. And makes him feel like he's not travelling with only one small flying companion, but two.
Even before confirming this with Venti, he already has a rough idea on how the Anemo Archon works with the wind. And even with the things Venti said about the protected domains, Aether probably already guesses it by now.
Inside those domains, the wind that blows on him feels hollow.
They feel like a stranger. They do not feel calming like it has always been, only making him uneasy with each breeze.
Aether caresses the side of Venti's face, making him turn his way. The smile that was there is no longer.
"Were you worried?"
Leaning into his palm, Venti shuts his eyes close and breathes out slowly. "I imagined a lot of things. Every time I close my eyes, it's like a dark paradise. All sorts of negative thoughts loomed over me."
The hand which Venti uses to join their hands together trembles slightly.
This may be the first time for Aether to see Venti this shaken. Trying to curl himself and make himself smaller.
So frail.
Back when Venti told him about his old friend, he also looked so brittle. Yet it might be the centuries-worth time to be the reason Venti could hold himself well a lot better that day.
In centuries past; the Venti in the form of a wind spirit, the Venti that he never got the chance to meet—must also be this frail with the death of his friend.
"Aether," his voice soft and he hooks one of his dangling legs on Aether's. "Don't go where the wind can't reach you."
Aether leans in and kisses the side of Venti's eye.
The Archon in front of him has seen and experienced too much for him to shed a tear. But Aether knows just how much Venti is holding them.
"I'm sorry. I can't promise you that."
The path he leads is the path to find his sister home. If he had to encounter people like Raiden Shogun and be trapped inside their protected domain again in order to meet his sister; he will do it.
But if one day … if one day, the weight on Aether's path proved to halt him from moving anymore. If Aether decided to abandon the journey he set foot on and picked the easy path instead—of joining hands with his sister's decision.
Or if one day he just … left.
Would Venti be here—sitting on top of the statue with eyes closed, while the breeze tells him of the uncertainty of the hero's tale?
Aether finds his eyes looking deep into Venti's green ones.
The colour of the sky in their hometown.
But if he were to return with Lumine to that sky, he'll lose the one he's holding in his hand now. Is that really what he wants?
The journey he'll have to take to bring him to Lumine is still long. So the discussion on that will have to wait.
Who knows, maybe Lumine will enjoy Venti's presence too?
Until then, there's only one thing he can promise Venti.
Aether smiles and gives Venti a gentle caress on his face. And with that, the breeze caresses him softly too.
"But I promise; I'll come back to you."
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End.