Welcome back to another episode of Aether plays Genshin Impact. Literally.
Been busy pre-framing for my boy Kazuha, I have given up on getting EM as a main stat on any VV artifacts so I'm probably gonna run him as hybrid DPS-Support.
But enough about me, let's get back to what you've all been waiting for, the continuation of this series!
Text Guide
Normal Text - Descriptions, Narration, and Character thoughts
"Quoted Text" - Character Dialogue
Bold Text - Emphasis, mostly used within dialogue.
Bold + Italicized - System UI
Italicized - Items names, both inside and outside System UI
"Italicized Quoted Text" - Internal Dialogue
Interlude - Paimon interrupts the plot with a bombshell
It was night time in Teyvat. Which meant one thing.
"Looks like we're camping out for tonight. And here we were thinking we could finally sleep somewhere that wasn't outside…"
Aether mentally cursed his luck as he started scouting for a place to settle down for the night. As much as he wanted to rush the remaining two temples and advance the "story", he was starting to get sleepy. Barely avoiding a world-ending disaster did that to you.
"You're camping outside? Sounds fun! I hope the food is good!" A certain outrider in red quipped.
"All our food is for healing purposes though…" Aether replied.
"But won't we take damage if we starve…?"
Jean had a point. Common sense dictated that eating was the number one way to avoid damage taken by starvation.
However…
"Do you guys actually feel hungry? Because I don't."
Which wasn't a lie. Aether hadn't eaten anything since, what? The apple he ate to heal after getting bludgeoned by that one hilichurl this morning? That was today? Felt like a week ago…
"Strangely enough, I don't, Aether. That's odd, you'd think we'd be hungry at this hour…" As Noelle reported ths, however…
A growling sound followed her statement.
"…Nevermind. That was me, my bad."
"It's fine, Noelle. I haven't eaten in a while, and I bet Paimon is starving."
Just then, a new system UI popped up.
Hunger and Energy
Your party will eventually get tired and hungry.
The pop-up showed a picture of Jean, Amber, Kaeya, and Lisa, together as a party in a tired state.
"Where did that picture come from!?" A rather disturbed Amber asked.
"Maybe the system generated it?" replied an equally disturbed Aether.
"I'm starting to wonder if we can trust this system…" Jean was starting to wonder how the system managed to defy all known laws of Teyvat so far.
"I'm more concerned about how the system manages to create such photos in the first place…" Noelle actually had a good point here but at this point everyone was so tired and confused that it went under the radar.
The Hunger and Energy Bars next to each character in the character list indicate if the party requires sustenance and rest.
The picture shifted to a view of said bars, which was next to the list of the characters in the current party. The hunger bar was in orange, while the energy bar was in blue.
"Right, I did see those bars going down but I had no idea why…that makes sense now." Aether said.
Hunger can be restored by eating food cooked beforehand.
"Isn't that common sense?" That was Amber.
Each character has a favorite dish that, when consumed, will provide a greater boost in sustenance.
The system cut to a picture of what was probably the feeding menu, where Amber could be seen being provided some Sticky Honey Roast.
"Okay, how the heck does the system know my favorite food?"
"I mean, you did mention treating Paimon to Sticky Honey Roast earlier…"
"Yeah, but I didn't even say it was my favorite!"
Energy can be restored by either sitting down in certain areas for a certain amount of time or by sleeping.
The system finally cut to two pictures, side by side. One was Jean sitting beneath a massive tree, and the other showed Aether sleeping in his sleeping bag.
"I'm convinced that this system has violated multiple basic privacy principles."
"Same, Jean. Same." Aether was getting more and more concerned by the second.
"You look really funny while sleeping, though."
"Shut up, Amber."
Be sure to keep track of these bars, as letting either bar run out will cause the party member to collapse and be rendered useless.
The system showed the character sprites of Aether's current party grayed out.
"Guess we gotta manage our food then. Thankfully I cooked a lot of food earlier, so we can eat up later."
Closing the system message, Aether was able to move on.
"Let's focus on finding a place to camp for the night first."
"You're right, Jean. Hey, that massive tree over in the distance looks like a decent spot, don't you think?"
Aether pointed to a massive tree in the distance, further standing out thanks to the strange pillar of red light emanating from somewhere near it.
"The Symbol of Mondstadt's Hero…as far as spots to rest for the night go, I would find this spot the most preferable."
Aether wondered if that was the name of the huge tree, the area, or both.
"Come to think of it, isn't that the tree you were resting under in that system message…?'
"Looks like it."
"In any case, if that's what Master Jean finds the best, then I will defer to her wishes."
"Same here, I trust Acting Grandmaster Jean on this one. Plus, the tree should provide some good cover."
And so the final decision was made to camp there for the night.
It took a while, but eventually, Aether and his party made it near the base of the tree, where they saw some weird floating, wind-like thingy.
"Any idea what that is?"
"Anemoculus. We should offer it to the nearest Statue of the Seven."
Jean came through as usual. Seriously, she was better at being a guide than the system guide was at being a guide.
"Well, there's one nearby, so let's check it out."
Blessings of the Seven
Offer the Anemoculus to the Statue of the Seven
Of course it was a quest.
In any case, he had nothing to lose, so collected it, when Paimon made her grand reappearance.
"Oh, it's one of those consolidated wind thingies."
"It's called an Anemoculus, Paimon."
"Oh, right! Anyways, we should-"
"Offer it to the Statue of the Seven? Yeah, Jean told me about it. About to do it, actually."
"Oh…cool. It can only be seen by those with a Vision, but then again, you're not from this world, so those rules seem to not apply to you…"
"Wait, what do you mean you're not from this world?" asked a very confused Amber.
…
…
…
Aether mentally cursed and swore not to give Paimon any of the good food for the coming week.
Great. They know his biggest secret now.
While he wasn't planning on consciously hiding the fact that he was from a different world, he didn't really want to reveal that fact since it was, well, risky.
Back in the good old days (man it felt depressing to phrase it like that) when he was with his sister and had his powers, it was pretty easy to say that they were travelers from different worlds. With their golden wings, divine-power swords, and celestial powers, they stood out so much that it would be much harder to hide their otherworldliness than to make it known and deal with all the creatures that resented them for that fact.
And that was the problem. Not everyone was welcoming of people from other worlds. Some were suspicious, others were outright hostile.
Usually, the twins were able to resolve such conflicts by either talking their way put of it, retreating entirely, or, worst case scenario, bloodshed.
That option was out of the window now. He needed these people to trust him.
That left him with two options.
One is to just brush Paimon's comment off. Hopefully they would ignore her comment and they could move on like nothing happened. It would be the easier option, all things considered.
But he couldn't do that to them.
If he wanted to save his sister, wherever on Teyvat she is, he needed to build trust with these people. And to do that, he couldn't lie.
Sighing to himself mentally and Aether hoped to whatever god that was out there that they wouldn't call him insane, he went with option two.
"Long story, I'll tell you all about it."
"Wait, so it's true, then?" Jean pressed.
"I wasn't planning on revealing it, but since Paimon here casually dropped that bomb of a revelation on you all, then I may as well. Give me a moment."
"WHAT!?" Amber straight up shouted in shock at that revelation.
"You're from…another world..?" Noelle was just confused, if anything.
No one interjected again as Aether casually interacted with the Statue of the Seven. A system message appeared, and suddenly, his empty map was filled with more land. Cool. Not yet complete, but he could see a lot more now.
After that, Aether interacted with yet another system screen that let him worship the statue at the tap of a couple of screens. The Statue lit up for a second as the system announced that Aether's max stamina went from 100 to 107. Hooray.
At the same time, the system showed them a view of a wind current activating somewhere.
"Alright, let me set up camp real quick, then I'll tell my story." Aether popped up his inventory screen into view and materialized a basic sleeping bag and a small portable campfire into existence.
(AN: There's no mention of Aether having camp equipment in canon, but the fact that he did camp outside is canon, if the Serenitea Pot quest is anything to go by. This was the best solution I can think of, given how weird it would be to have Aether never sleep. I also threw in hunger in the new system for good measure. Can't have Aether not eating.)
As he did this, the rest of the party was processing the revelation that Paimon dropped about Aether slower than the normal time it takes one to walk from one end of Mondstadt to the other end of Liyue. As Aether finished setting up their campsite underneath the shade of "The Symbol of Mondstadt's Hero", one question remained on their minds.
"Who is he?"
"Alright everyone, eat up." Aether casually materialized the brand new feeding menu he had acquired and gave the entire party some delicious Chicken Mushroom Skewers. He then pulled one out and began chewing it.
Noelle had no idea how "Aether's mindspace" worked, but she could somehow see and feel the Chicken-Mushroom Skewer Aether gave them. Grabbing it (somehow, it was freaky not seeing her hand holding it) she began eating it. While she wasn't picky with her food, she personally would have preferred some salad. Oh well, this'll do.
She was pretty shocked, though. Aether was from another world? Forget other worlds, she hardly knew what it was like outside Mondstadt! Her mind couldn't wrap around that fact!
"So explain, Aether. And don't lie- I'll know if you do."
Looks like Master Jean had become serious. The authority of her voice was something Noelle hoped she would never be on the wrong end of. After the incident with Klee, she wasn't sure if she could bear it again. She thought it was knight training!
"Alright, alright, but even with that, I'm not sure if you'll believe what I'm about to say."
"Talk anyway. I'll figure out if I can believe you later on."
And so, Aether laid out his story. Of how he, together with his sister, used to travel through different worlds, bearing powers rivaling that of gods. He told stories about many different worlds. Some were similar to Teyvat, while others were so different that it seemed like something out of a fairy tale. Worlds with no magic? Sounds quite inconvenient. Worlds with nothing but robots? Freaky.
"So some time ago, I'm not sure how long ago, me and my sister arrived in this world. When we woke up, all we saw was this civilization being destroyed by what we could only assume to be gods. We sought to get out of there quickly, arriving at this area that looked like a heavenly realm, but then this unknown god showed up and stopped us. We engaged her in battle, but she was way beyond our level. Had full control over these red cubes that she freely manipulated. I ended up dropping my sword in that skirmish in order to dodge an attack, but…"
"But what?" Amber asked.
"It didn't matter. My sister got trapped by the cubes and was consumed. I went for one final attack, but it was blocked, and I, too, was consumed by the cubes. By the time I woke up, my sister was gone. So too was my sword…" Aether's voice cracked as he recalled the painful loss. He could probably replace the sword, but Noelle could feel the pain in Aether's voice as he recalled the sequence of events.
"Aether…" Amber was about to say something, but she was cut off by Aether.
"It's fine, let me continue."
Aether continued.
"I stayed in the area around Stormbearer Point until I fished up Paimon, then we made our way to the Statue of the Seven in Starfell Lake. There, I touched the statue and received my Anemo powers.
"Wait, what do you mean? Don't you have a Vision?" Jean asked.
"Nope. I don't even know what it is."
"The elemental gem we have on us. People who can manipulate the elements are called Vision Holders."
"I see…well whatever the case, I didn't receive one. This elemental orb flew towards me, and when it disappeared after hitting my chest, I just got these powers."
"…That's the first I heard of it." Amber replied.
Inwardly, Noelle was envious of Aether for getting Anemo powers so easily. She had a Geo Vision, but she wanted Anemo! Oh well, it helped anyway.
"And to paraphrase what Paimon said, I'm not from this world, so the rules of this world probably don't apply to me."
"That..actually makes sense. It ties to your 'not from this world' story anyway." Amber replied.
"After that, I encountered a couple of hilichurls, beat them up, and had a near miss with Stormterror."
"You WHAT?" Amber yelped in shock.
"Yeah, me and Paimon saw the dragon and moved towards it. Someone was trying to calm it down, but something happened and it got angry, roared, and flew off."
"You were lucky to survive that encounter. Be more careful next time…" Jean ended up lecturing Aether.
"In any case, it left a crystal, which I grabbed, then I walked off to Mondstadt and encountered Amber…"
"And the rest is history…but it sort of makes sense now. I mean, you didn't even know what a hilichurl was!"
"Yeah, I was wondering what was up with those guys. And spare me the 'Aether? Doesn't sound like a local name to me.'"
"It's true!"
Master Jean was silent for a while, pondering all the information. Meanwhile, Noelle was in awe of Aether's story. Travelled to different worlds? Separated from his twin by an unknown god? That hurts. She resolved to do whatever she could to help Aether find his sister. That was just unfair.
"As unbelievable as it all sounds, everything adds up…your name not being local, not even knowing what a hilichurl is…you not obeying the laws of this world…how did you learn the language of Teyvat, though?"
"Oh, Paimon taught me. As for how we communicated with each other before that…you don't want to know."
"..."
"There was food involved."
"...I see."
"As for me, I believe your story. It's not like you have a reason to lie to us anyway." Noelle finally spoke up.
"Thanks, Noelle. I appreciate it." She could swear she heard Aether breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, it all makes sense. Except for the system you encountered, I'm still wondering about that."
"Me too, Amber. Me too. Jean?"
"...Your story is solid. Everything makes sense. But did you say that when you arrived in this world, a civilization was under attack by gods?"
"Uhh, yeah. Why?"
"Just confirming. I'm going to ask Lisa about it, maybe she knows something. I need to confirm that anyway. I'll believe you for now, but the system…I don't know about it…it's incredibly convenient, but also a bit freaky…come to think of it, how familiar are you with the system? You seem to be quite familiar with it.."
"Oh, the system? It appeared just as I was about to set off from Mondstadt. But I encountered something similar while I…how do I phrase this? Let's just say that I used a third-party technological device that utilized a similar system. First time I've had it appear as part of me, however."
"I see. I can tell you aren't lying, so I'll believe you for now."
"That's better than immediately being attacked by virtue of being different. Thank you, guys." Ok, Aether was definitely breathing a sigh of relief.
"You mean you got attacked when you revealed yourselves?" Noelle asked, confused.
"You'd be surprised by how hostile people become when faced with something different. To them, change is the enemy."
"Good thing you didn't wind up in Inazuma, then. You probably would be in jail by now if you were with them. They're the nation of eternity for a reason…" Jean chipped in with that cheery statement.
"You know what? You're right. I'm lucky I met you guys. Thanks for trusting me." Wait, was Aether about to tear up?
"Aww, you're welcome! Don't worry, we'll help find your sister! Right?" Amber put on her cheerful persona upon realizing that they might have put Aether on the spot there.
"I'll do everything I can to help, so don't worry!" Call her naive, but Noelle was pretty darn sure Aether wasn't lying. Unless he had some insane acting skills, but she didn't want to believe that.
"The Knights of Favonius are grateful for your cooperation, Aether. Rest assured, we'll do everything we can to help." Jean came forward and fused her usual professionalism with calming words to cheer up Aether.
"Guys…" Aether was left speechless.
"…thank you." and then, he yawned.
"Best we get some rest. Too bad we can't brush our teeth or take a shower…" Amber commented.
"I mean, we could in theory, but with how the party system works…" Aether trailed off before realizing he was entering very dangerous territory.
"Best we don't. Good night."
"Rest well."
And on that awkward note, the party turned in for the night.
Meanwhile, Kaeya and Lisa were still standing in front of their respective temples. No one knows how long they've been standing there, but if the time would have been measured, it would certainly be a shock to any who would see it.
Somewhere, presumably in some place where the Abyss order had their base of operations, a certain blonde haired twin was watching something quite intently.
Sat on a luxurious sofa, food in hand, Lumine had a screen open projecting the events unfolding concerning Aether from a third-person person perspective. Kind of like an invisible broadcast system that he wasn't aware of. And she was pretty surprised, to say the least.
"Looks like he has access to the system too…not surprising. Though it seems quite different to mine. What the heck is a Wishing system…?"
Lumine frowned, before bringing up her own system menu. Navigating to the Operations tab, she checked on the progress of the plan with Dvalin. They had successfully poisoned the dragon, and it even stayed corrupted even after that bard tried to calm it down.. However…
"Your Eminence…" An Abyss lector suddenly appeared next to her and kneeled.
"Speak."
"I bring forth some news about our latest operation. Stormterror, in fact, attacked Mondstadt itself, however…'
"My twin fought it off and Dvalin flew away."
"...Yes. How did you…?"
"That is none of your concern." Lumine paced back and forth, pondering the situation. It was a bit of a curveball in her original plans, but nothing too serious.
"Your orders, my Princess?"
"Knowing him, he's probably going to try and play hero while searching for me. No matter. Continue the operation as planned."
"Yes, Princess."
The Abyss lector disappeared.
"Guess I have to start heading on field to spy on Aether myself. This broadcast is useful and all, but it doesn't show everything I want to see."
She stood up and summoned her sword, now imbued with abyssal power. Checking her inventory to make sure she had everything she needed, she moved out.
"Soon, dear brother, we will be reunited…"
So…guess Lumine is watching our boy after all. And she has a system of her own too. I wonder how that will play out?
I really did mean to have Aether run the two temples in this chapter, but as I was writing this, I figuratively stumbled upon the fact that Paimon's dialogue in the Anemoculus quest would effectively expose him as an outlander, so I had to deal with that curveball. And adding the two temples after that would have extended the word count and caused a massive delay.
Speaking of which, I had to rewrite a couple of things, (most notably, I had to add the hunger and energy mechanics after adding the camping equipment scene) which, aside from me straight up procrastinating due to playing way too much Genshin, has caused several delays. Apologies about that. Hopefully I didn't keep you all waiting for too long.
But hey, assuming I don't get sucked up in playing 2.8 with Kazuha and slowly building up my Spiral Abyss teams, we should actually end up with Chapter One complete in the next chapter. Hooray.
And after reading the reviews, I'm pleasantly surprised to see that you guys are fine with the current pacing. I'll try to incorporate your guys' feedback into the next chapter, as this chapter had way too much original dialogue to skip. Hopefully I did the "Aether is from a different world reveal" some proper justice. It really came out of nowhere, but it had to be addressed.
And speaking of big reveals, I decided to sow the seeds to spice up the dramatic reunion. Let's hope my writing gets better by then.
But enough about me. I really hope you guys enjoyed this interlude! Till the next one, and as always, have a nice day!
-Author