A/N: I'm taking my own spin on Aether's abilities. Maybe Keqing if I want to as well.


Chapter 3: Why Does Getting Hungover Exist?

Two Days Ago


It had been another hard day at work, some small trivial problems around the town. Aether managed to see how Keqing acted, outside from beating up treasure hoarders and killing monsters, that is. She had a polite smile, always making sure they were fully satisfied before she moved on to the next person, forcefully dragging him with her. Maybe monsters do have a soft side to them. Then again, she looks at him like he's trash, speaks to him like trash, and acts like he's trash—always ignoring him while she's working, and always forcing the actual working to him. If he never managed to find his sister, was he going to be her slave for the rest of his life?

The night sky stretched out above them, the sparkling stars shining like diamonds, as bright as her sword the day they first met, when she put her sword to his throat. Several things had happened since then, but she was still suspicious of him, always giving him that glare when they weren't with citizens, but it seemed that today wasn't the case. As Aether rested his arms on the wooden railings, gazing at the sky from the balcony of Wangshu Inn, he heard the wooden floor creak quietly as a purple-haired girl approached him. Keqing, it seemed she had changed her attire, wearing a yellow sweater underneath a white skirt with brown boots with a small heel at the back, joining in on his activity as they both sighed. Crickets made their usual buzz, an owl hooting here and there every so often, but that was pretty much it.

Either it felt a bit too boring to Keqing, or she thought it was awkward, or she actually just wanted to talk to him. Her mouth opened, voice not coming out as she glanced down at the water, seemingly searching her mind for a way to begin the conversation. She inhaled, looking at the river, "Tell me about your sister." Her tone was indifferent as usual, eyes trying to find a swimming fish. A cold breeze swept past, the leaves of the tree above them swaying, sending a few pink petals their way. Aether caught one in his hand.

Keqing didn't know if he was going to answer—he probably wouldn't. This might be too personal for him, but she just needed to ask. For the sake of the investigation, she told herself, when in reality she was just curious. There wasn't really anything else to talk about. Anything else would've ended in a minute or so. Aether, she saw from the corner of her eye, smiled nostalgically, eyes softening as he continued to gaze at the stars. He chuckled lightly before replying, "What about?" In honesty, there was so much he could've mentioned that she needed to specify the topic. Her head turned to him as if to say, 'You serious?'

"Well, she smiled a lot. You knew something was wrong whenever she didn't. Pretty, too; every guy I've seen look at her have either blushed, silently gasped, or smiled." He sighed once more, "You could say Lumine was one of those happy-go-lucky kids. Strong, as well. Maybe stronger than me in terms of strategy and magic power—elemental, sorry. She's never a liability, she can handle herself in a fight, and that's probably why I never fully stress when I fight with her." Keqing was now looking straight at him. More specifically, his smile. That innocent and happy expression of his looked just the way she did a while back.

"She's the only one I've ever been close to, I didn't know my parents well. We fought through everything together, and I never imagined being separated with her. I'm not really that good at talking to others, I've forced my social skills to be a bit more active recently. She was the more chatty one. I guess that means I'm pretty much lonely, doesn't it?" Aether softly chuckled in a slow manner. "We depended on each other, but I guess that's a downside considering our situation."

"Do you worry about her?"

"Doesn't everyone worry about someone dear to them? Sure I never stress a lot, but the feeling's always there, lurking. If the person that's close to you is in danger, I guess your body just moves on its own accord. Like they're far more important than you, enough that you'd put your own life on the line, enough that you wouldn't care whatever happened to you. If they're happy, then you were as well. They looked after you, and you looked after them. I just didn't do it good enough."

The silence returned. Keqing knew at one glance that he wasn't lying. Those golden eyes of his were enough proof. Her belief that he wasn't the killer had strengthened even more. She already had a hunch, and so she kept trying to see if he'd break under her. Never once did he get angry at her—for real. It got to the point where she just kept acting like she was mad at him just for the sake of his seeing his expressions. No one had ever provided Keqing this much fun ever since... Just two more days, and she'd be saying goodbye to him, his suspicions all cleared. That was the best case scenario. But she was already fully convinced that he was clear. Anyone that kind couldn't have killed a god. Besides, he really didn't know shit about Liyue, or about Rex Lapis. It's just the small matter of her feeling a bit sad about it.

It was gonna be fine, she presumed. From a different standpoint, they weren't really all that close. Hell, she hasn't called him Aether yet. She wasn't sure if it was all right to call him a friend, as crazy as that might sound.

"I feel sorry for that sister of yours. How can she put up with you?"

"Hey—!"

Keqing, for the first time, giggled. He'd never heard her do it before, and Aether quickly thought that she needed to do it more often. It was, um, cute, to say the least. Her smile, her laugh, and was contagious—incredibly so, and it was beautiful, perhaps rivalling even the view of the clear night sky with its bright full moon. Actually, he took that back. That smile was no doubt better than the stars. If he were to decide between getting Rex Lapis to talk to him again, or that smile, he'd much rather choose the latter.

He felt happy for the first time in a while. Aether, in the back of his mind, confessed that maybe—and it was a small maybe—he liked her random insults—assuming they were lighthearted jokes. I guess getting stuck isn't so bad.


The next morning, they were heading out to a large hilichurl camp. The blockades they made have blocked various trade routes, stopping materials from getting into Liyue. From what they've heard, it's too dangerous for even the Millelith to handle it, and so, here they were. Peeking out from a large boulder that had rolled down the side of a mountain, Keqing examined the camp. There were five Rock Shieldwall Mitachurls, 3 Hilichurl towers filled with 3 shooters each—two Cryo and one Electro, two Hydro Abyss Mages, and a load of Hilichurls, possibly 30 or 40.

"Be careful out there, traveler."

"Oh, thank—"

"If you accidentally get in my way, it may very well injure you badly. Watch your step."

This girl!

With a smile, purple light engulfed her, leaving a bright flash behind her. The next moment, gruesome cries could be heard behind the masks of the monsters before him—all disintegrating into a pile of black ash, swept away by the winds of justice. Keqing had the ability to teleport, and being the hard-worker that she was, she had managed to make full use of it. A part of him actually felt Keqing was being serious. One wrong step could get him in her way, his neck bing slashed instead of the hilichurl's. Quick, just like thunder. Clean, graceful, efficient, experienced, that's the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing for you. Feeling a bit more fired up, Aether took his sword in his hand, the golden flakes forming the silver blade, so sharp that he could hear a faint ring in his ears. It wasn't his personal sword; that one was probably destroyed long ago, but the one he gripped was good enough.

Aether ran through the dirt, his feet crunching gravel, the hilichurls now alerted of his presence. A strike, it pushed three back. His fist released, a gust of wind pulling them in before being swung back with a violent throw of his arm, Keqing taking them all as she teleported in the air. Running up the walls barely avoiding a swing from a mitachurl's shield, he threw an arrow away, diving into one tower, spinning once, slicing the stomachs. He jumped, crashing into a horde of red-skinned hilichurls, wind encircling his weapon as he pointed it at them. The gust burst out, sending them back—providing Keqing's sword more food.

She appeared behind the mitachurl, striking its nape as it turned round, its shield providing her a platform as she plunged into the monster. Taking the massive piece of rock, she threw it to one tower, its support collapsing, landing on several hilichurls. One teleport and she severed their heads. Aether sprinted to the end, a clean line of hilichurls in sight. At once, he released a torrent of wind their way, the tornado sucking them all in. The hilichurls were taken care of.

Avoiding a shield strike, Aether ran round a mitachurl, leg swooping under, tripping it as he jumped on top, sword ripping through the back, twisting mercilessly as the blood splattered on his clothes. She had landed next to him, along with one hydro mage. Her hand glowed purple, touching the water shield as it crackled. They took a step back, the mage had begun to spurt water from the ground, breaking away the ground as grit flew, blocking sight when a rock shield appeared, knocking Keqing away. Aether sliced the feet off, beheading it from the back, but not quick enough before he got trapped in the bubble.

He couldn't breath, he was stuck. The 2 other mitachurls were racing towards her, the mages beginning to teleport, the archers preparing their shot. Their shields were in bad condition, but—

No!

Arrows—

Don't go!

Spikes—

Give my sister back!

Aether broke from the bubble, running desperately, gasping desperately—his sword all but gone, fist closing in anger and frustration, as if attempting to snatch Keqing out of the way. His feet couldn't keep up, he was out of breath, like his lungs were going to pop, he felt like collapsing, his legs on the verge of giving in, he felt like dying, the wounds on his arms were stinging, he had a growing pain in his chest, he couldn't do it, he was too slow, he wouldn't make it, he was too weak, he wouldn't reach her in time, he was going to fail for the millionth time.

I guess your body just moves on its own accord.

"WATCH OUT!"

Like they're far more important to you.

He was eventually going to get hit. Those arrows were sharp. They were likely to break his chest plate. They were going to hit something vital. There was a chance that they were going to be fatal. The elemental energy infused in them were incredibly dangerous.

Enough that you'd put your life on the line for them.

The arrows fired, the water spikes formed, the shields were thrown. They were a meter away—that was enough time for Aether to take Keqing in his arms, wrap them tightly around her as if afraid she was going to disappear, and hide her head into his chest. Aether released all his elemental energy away, sending a shockwave. Her expression was similar—if not the same—to the one his sister made: eyes wide in worry, mouth agape, eyebrows scrunched. The only difference was that he saw a small teardrop at the far corner of her eyes. Strange, he'd never seen Keqing—


"Aether—!"

Keqing woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. She could feel a soft breeze caress her cheeks, flowing generously into the room from an open window on the left, the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves being heard from above. Looking out, the skies were clear, bright blue and sunny—with some of the sunlight poking through the orange curtains which swayed lightly from the wind. Keqing winced slightly, hand coming up to keep the sunlight away. She had an annoying headache, and her body felt a bit painful. To sum up, it was the usual, with only a different ceiling and a stronger headache. She wasn't fazed by being in a different room. Only those with a death wish would attempt to do something so audacious.

"Must've drunk a bit too much..."

All she remembered was meeting with Aether, then inviting him to a drink, and... that was pretty much all. It might come back soon, or maybe never. From the side, there was a steady breathing of someone asleep, and there was no face when Keqing looked, but the blonde hairstyle was enough. It shined in view of the sun, as bright as gold. It was tempting to touch it. It was fine wasn't it? He was asleep wasn't he? Couldn't she get away with this?

Her hand was on the verge of touching him, when she noticed the towel beside her pillow, the bowl with water, and the medicine on the bedside table. It all came rushing back. The cringy line she said at the bar, when she pulled his braid, told multiple horrible dad jokes that were so bad it actually hurt, and when he took care of her. Of course, she was missing some bits. She also noticed that she was wearing different clothes. The shirt was a bit big on her, but the shorts seemed to be the right size.

JUST HOLD THE FUCK UP, DID HE...

DID HE FUCKING...

"Ohhh, Paimon did it."

WAIT, PAIMON DID IT?!

In the end, Keqing decided to stick to non-alcohol drinks. Just the thought of getting drunk all over again like that embarrassed her to her very core, so much so that her face had turned into a complete tomato. She learnt her lesson. But then again, Aether took care of her...

"...What the heck's wrong with me?"

She still hadn't forgotten about that incident a few days ago. For a day, he'd been hospitalised, and since she felt guilty, she paid for the medicine and treatment and decided to grant one favour of his, which was to find his sister, which led to her getting drunk. Still, even if he only got hit by two arrows in the back and got 1 rock shield thrown at him out of the 2 water spikes, three arrows, and 2 rock shields, he healed fairly quickly—even if she did give him good treatment. Keqing still remembered that moments as clear as ever. The moment when he wrapped his arms around her, to be precise. It wasn't the time for it, but still! They felt warm, maybe more than the duvet that was on top of her at the moment.

Keqing then realised that he'd already been cleared of suspicion yesterday.

I guess this is the last day.