"Mama Mama! Where's Papa?" A small blonde girl with golden eyes asked as she jumped up and down.

"Fu Fu fu~ Papa is home now, Haru. Let's go see him," answered the lady of the Kamisato clan. Ayaka scooped her precious daughter up in her arms and walked gracefully toward the main room of the Kamisato clan's estate. As Ayaka walked through the halls of her home, she looked around the room and felt her lips curl into a smile. Decorating the walls were tapestries, drawings, and pictures of her beloved family. Her oldest was with her parents and brother, and the next included Thoma. Still navigating the halls, the photos had a new face, Aether. One particular image stood out, the image of her and Aether on their wedding day, which she would remember for the rest of her life. The next few photos were of her and Aether in the following months.

Ayaka laughed softly at the images of her and Aether being the lovey-dovey couple they were; her delight grew as she saw a picture depicting her and Aether when she was pregnant with Haru. The last few and more recently illustrated the three of them; Aether was clad in clan Kamisato samurai armor, proudly representing the clan he'd come to be part of.

"It's been so long! I missed Papa so much," the excited girl squealed as they neared the main room of their home.

"Mama missed him too, Haru," Ayaka smiled at her daughter. She truthfully did miss her beloved husband. She wished he didn't have to go darting around Inazuma so much, but she knew that was the life of a clan leader. His status among the clans and even the Watatsumi islanders also meant he was virtually the cornerstone of the peaceful relations they maintained with other clans and those people.

"Thoma, hello there," she said as she caught sight of her oldest friend.

"Hello there, Ayaka, hey little Haru," The man said, petting the girl on the head.

"Hey, Uncle Thoma! Is my Papa here?" she asked with eager eyes.

"Oh yes, he looks exhausted, but I'm sure he'll be happy to see you both. I just got done talking to him," answered the now older man.

"Yaaay, papa!" Haru said, practically squirming in her mother's hold.

Ayaka smiled as her child cheered in her arms. This was true bliss.

"Thank you…Thoma?" Ayaka blinked as she realized her oldest friend was no longer in front of her. He'd vanished like he hadn't been standing there just now, just moments ago. "Where did he go?" She asked, looking around.

"Mama, let's go! Papa is waiting!" The bubbly girl in her arms said.

"Oh yes, of course..let's go welcome him home," Ayaka said as she slid open the door to the room her husband was waiting in. However, as the door cracked open, she stopped, and a faint odor started to burn her nostrils.

"Smoke?" She said absentmindedly. The entire house was silent. She remained unmoving for a brief moment, forgetting her daughter's anxiousness to see the head of her family. She swallowed the lump in her throat and moved the door out of the way. On the other side, what was waiting for her forced the breath from her lungs and iced the blood in her veins.

The armor that her brother Ayato had gifted to Aether sat in the middle of the room. Empty. Covered in scorch marks and bloodstains, falling to pieces. All around the room, burning pictures of her family lay strewn about, seemingly fading away.

"H-haru…don't look!" Ayaka said, trying to shield her daughter's eyes. Suddenly the weight in her arms started to lessen. She looked down at her daughter and almost screamed. There was only an empty yukata where her daughter used to be; ashes poured out of the sleeves and stained the white and blue fabric with a twisted black.

The noblewoman fell to her knees. Her fear told her to run, but she had nowhere to go. Her husband, daughter, and home were here, and they had all turned to dust before her very eyes.

"Aether!?" Ayaka screamed. Her body was now drenched in sweat despite the cool night air in her room. She took short, panicked breaths while she trembled and tried to collect herself. This was the umpteenth night in a row sleep would elude her. Hugging her knees to her chest, she began to quietly sob, trying her hardest to explain why these dreams came to her. In truth, that was a pointless question, she knew what she wanted with the Traveler, but she was well aware it was a longshot too. Looking towards her open closet, she caught a gaze of the outfit she'd planned to show him. It was styled in the fashions of Fontaine; it was made frilly and brightly colored in the hopes that it would catch his eye. When she first saw it, she was hopeful that he would finally see her in a new light, but now she would never get the chance.

"Lady Kamisato, it's good to see you again. It's been a while. Is there something you need?" Yoimya asked in a tone that betrayed her mood. Like many others in Inazuma, she had heard of the unofficial reports of the travelers' death coming out of the Tenshukaku. She had hoped it was a mistake, but upon asking Thoma what he knew, she was devastated to hear it wasn't just a rumor. Given the high status he held in their eyes, the Kamisato clan had been among the first to receive the news of the Traveler's death.

"H-hello there, there's no need for the pleasantries, Yoimiya. Please call me Ayaka," She said with a smile that Yoimiya could tell was plastic. It was out of character for her. She was typically so sincere.

"Of course, um…Ayaka, I don't mean to sound rude, but…you don't look well. Is everything okay?" Yoimiya already knew why. Much like herself, Ayaka had gotten very close to the Traveler. They'd both been so close to him that some speculated the Traveler could be courting them both.

"I'm fine," Ayakas shaky voice replied. "I've had some mild issues sleeping at night. That's all," Ayakas mind briefly flashed to nightmares that had haunted her since she received confirmation of Aether's death.

"Oh. I see; I won't pry too much," Yoimiya said. "So then, you had a request for me?"

"Yes, although I hope you won't mind, it may seem a bit strange," Ayaka said trying to compose herself. "As I recall, you have unique fireworks for your closest friends; typically, you can always find them if they bring the slip on which the firework is listed. I was hoping that maybe you could find…his firework."

"I can," Yoimiya said, a small smile gracing her face.

"Really? It wouldn't be too difficult to locate it without his slip?" Ayaka asked, surprised by her speedy answer.

"Not at all. Honestly, I've…been setting one of them off every night."

"It's good to see you after all this time, Sensei! I rarely get a moment to myself, y'know, so when I do, I like to unwind," the ginger-haired harbinger known as Childe said. "How've you been, Sensei?"

"I've been well for the most part, thank you," The stoic former archon replied.

"I may be young Sensei, but I can tell when someone's disguising the truth. I can see that you're a bit gloomy," The man said, observing the consultant closely. "I think I know why as well. Don't tell me you're buying into this rumor of the Traveler's death?" Childe asked, leaning back in his chair.

Zhonglie's brows furrowed for a moment as he frowned at the harbinger. "I had my suspicions about it all, but it would be disrespectful to speak of this matter so lightly," Zonglie set his cup of tea down slowly. "Actually, you speak rather confidently. Is it possible that you know more about this matter than you let on?"

"Am I sensing an accusation?" Childe asked, a bit stunned. "Fatui nor I have any involvement in this supposed death, well… at least I don't. Can't speak for the rest of those schemers," Childe said, sipping his tea.

Zhonglie said nothing.

"Frankly, Sensei, I'm surprised; you knew the traveler better than I, didn't you?" Childe asked. "Then again, I did face him in combat myself, so maybe I'd be able to better speak to his resilience. Although I can't say it with absolute certainty, I find it hard to believe someone like Aether would be so easily done in. There's more to him than meets the eye; strength recognizes strength, and let me tell you, there's a sleeping giant within the Traveler," Childe finished.

The former archon observed the harbinger closely one last time before leaning back in his chair, satisfied with the answer he got.

"I apologize if I came off that way," He said.

"Don't worry about it; you're certainly not the first," Childe replied. "So now that we've gotten that out of the way…You wanna fight!?"

"Ugh."

The work of Liyue's Yuheng has always been something that would make most people faint upon merely seeing the tasks at hand. Not only was the volume of work intimidating, but the type of work could range from the mundane torture of putting pen to paper for hours to suddenly having to take part in heart-stopping, life-risking combat. It was all for the sake of Liyue, and for a long time, Keqing had thought it impossible for her conviction to falter; she wouldn't let it. Then she learned that the choice wasn't always hers.

Keqings violet eyes watched as a stack of paperwork that should have been hers was divided among her subordinates. Documents that needed signing, funding requests, and approvals for the movement of troops and resources. It was hard for her to see her responsibilities handed off to people who had more than enough to do; she'd never felt like such a burden. Even so, she knew it had to be done; at the pace, she'd been working lately, she simply couldn't meet her deadlines, nor did the thought of remaining after-hours appeal to her. Keqings gaze shifted from the group of people carving up her tasks to her friend, only to see that she was in the same situation.

Ganyu's eyes were a pale pink, her expression was empty, and her hair was unkempt. This was far from the professional image she'd built up for herself through years of dedication to the governing body of Liyue. Still, no one blamed her for this sudden drop in work ethic. Everyone who worked closely with the two knew the reason for their difficulties; some even tried to help, suggesting that they take time off as one did when they lost a loved one. However, both were prideful and refused to take time off from their duties until the investigation was completed or Aether's funeral was held. Ganyu's gaze met Keqings, and they shared a sympathetic look; both sighed and had the same thought as they stood up to try and at least keep their spaces clean. They hoped Yelan would return with good news.

The sky over the Avidia forest glowed with orange and cyan as the twilight hours descended across Sumeru. Despite the hour growling later and later, however, the forest seemed to only grow more active with time as more people seemed to investigate one particular part of the normally empty forest.

"So this is where it happened?" Amber asked as she looked over an area of forest that had been devastated. The trees were scorched black or knocked over, and the earth was dug up.

"Y-yes, it is; there used to be a tree right here where we're standing. It's where bombs were being held," Collei replied somberly. Amber looked down at her and saw the poor girl was practically on the verge of melting down. The poor girl had refused to leave her hut for some time before Paimon and Nahida arrived. They had spent most of their time today trying to coax her out, only leaving the enclosure she'd put herself in when Amber swore to Celestia that she didn't blame the forest ranger for the Traveler's death.

"Collei, thank you so much for helping. We're going to find Aether, all of us, and we'll bring him home," Amber said, putting a reassuring soldier.

"Yeah! Nahida's gonna work her magic, and we'll find Traveler in a jiffy!" Paimon said, interjecting.

"I truly am happy to see you all believe in me, but you'll need to give me some space. It may be very tedious just to sense his presence, let alone find his location," the dendro archon said as she walked to the very center of the scorched field. "As you'll recall, I initially suspected Aether had survived when the Irminsul Tree did not detect his death. This can mean one of two things, he either didn't die in the explosion, or…someone tampered with the tree yet again," She said as she closed her eyes and placed her hands together, mimicking a prayer.

Several images flashed before Nahida's eyes as she began to glow an ethereal emerald color. As she meditated, she saw before her everything that had occurred in the surrounding area; with this knowledge, she had hoped to see exactly what had occurred here. The problem she faced was finding the exact moment that the explosion had occurred, as well as the activity in the area that led to the explosion. She hoped it would give her greater insight as to how this all happened.

"Um, what exactly is Nahida doing, Paimon?" Amber asked in a hushed tone.

"Paimon doesn't know; she's using some kind of Archon hocus pocus to help," The white-haired girl responded.

"I'm using my connection to Sumeru's land to view its memories," Nahida said, letting the trio know she could hear them loud and clear. "The world around us can hold memories, visions of occurrences from long ago. I hope to observe them and learn something about the Traveler's disappearance.

"Ohhh, kinda like those rocks in Liyue," Paimon thought out loud. Collei and Amber, on the other hand, were still unsure as to what Nahida meant by that.

Nearby, hiding behind a pile of foliage that had been spared by the explosion, there was a new party listening intently to the conversation. She had been tailing the group for some time in the hopes of gaining some new information regarding the case of Aether's death. It was safe to say that although she didn't fully understand what the dendro archon was doing, she knew without a doubt that she heard them say the Traveler may very well be alive. This news would certainly send tremors through the already shaky structures that governed Teyvat.

"So the announcement of the Traveler's death was indeed premature. It's fortunate that Ningguang sent me to investigate," the blue-haired expert in espionage known as Yelan thought to herself. She had been investigating the circumstances surrounding the Travelers 'death' for some time. Ever since she received the news, it had been her primary focus, barely had she finished reading the message sent to her by Ningguang before she was on the move, interrogating possible suspects and gathering information about how exactly it had all transpired. That's what led her here, the land of wisdom was where he met his supposed fate after all, and she figured her best lead would lie with the forest rangers. She had been made aware, after all, that one was with him on the day of the accident, so she initially counted the ranger a suspect; however, upon seeing her, Yelan decided there was no way this harmless little shrub would be capable of something like that. That hadn't stopped Yelan from observing her, however, and she was glad she stuck around. Not long after arriving in Sumeru, Paimon had come to see the ranger with two companions. One was a brunette girl wearing red whom Yelan recognized from some of the pictures in Aethers Teapot, and the other was a much younger-looking girl that turned out to be dendro archon.

"Should I report back to Ningguang with this information?" She asked herself. "This is a big development, she would want to know about this right away, but it may be too early to deliver this news. Should whatever they are attempting to do fail, it would only give us all false hope," Yelan closed her eyes and contemplated the matter further.

"Hey! This area is closed off to unauthorized personnel; state your business," a feminine but authoritative voice called out. Yelan looked over in its direction and saw a tall bronze-skinned woman wielding a claymore and an expression that was chilling. "Who are you, and what do you think you're doing here?" She asked as she took purposeful steps towards the spy.

Yelan had been discovered. Thinking quickly, she used her skill to try and evade the menacing woman, darting off as a transparent shadow into the nearby woods. However, just before she could disappear into the brush, the claymore that the woman was wielding was suddenly thrown into the tree in front of her, shattering the tree trunk and bringing it crashing down in front of her. This was enough to shock Yelan out of her skill state; she considered at that moment that maybe she would have the upper hand in a fight. This warrior had just thrown away their weapon; surely, this meant their vision was almost useless now.

"Listen up, you can come with me quietly, or I can drag you back after I soften up those legs speedy," the enraged woman said as she approached. Yelan quickly noticed that pyro energy was pouring out of her clenched fists at an alarming rate; it seemed she could fight just fine without her claymore. Yelan readied her bow, she knew that in terms of combative abilities, she was likely outmatched, but she had to try.

"Hard way it is, then."

"Wait! Don't hurt her!" Both Dehya and Yelan turned to see Paimon, Amber, and Collei running up to the two of them. "We know her; that's a friend of ours!"

"You know this lady?" Dehya asked, lowering her flaming fists.

"Yeah, she works for the Liyue Quixing; we met her a while ago," Paimon said.

"Well, so much for anonymity," Yelan said, taking a less aggressive stance.

"If you're a friend of theirs, why were you spying on them?" Dehya asked in a firm voice.

"I came here to investigate the circumstances surrounding Aether's death. I figured it would be advantageous to keep myself hidden and listen in," Yelan answered.

"Oh yeah, I think that I've seen you around Aethers Teapot before," Amber said.

"Yes, and I've definitely seen you. I could tell from my visits to Aether that you're in the lead for his affections, no?" Yelan said, teasing.

"Eh!?" Amber yelped, embarrassed.

"I'm a little jealous, I have to say, but just FYI, your real competition is Liyues Yuheng and the secretary. Believe me, they're all over him whenever he's in town," Yelan said, giving Amber a wink.

"HAHAHAH!" Dehya bellowed with a laugh. "I knew blondie was a lady killer; the man had Nilou and Layla basically entranced whenever they were around him," she said, chuckling. "I was here because Nahida asked me to come help; I caught sight of you trailing them and figured you were up to no good," the merc explained.

While the group continued to converse with each other, they failed to notice a change in Nahida state. Suddenly her eyes shot wide open, and she gasped. This was it. The exact moment of the explosion!

"AETHER NO DO-" Nahida heard Collei's scream and then the sound of the explosion tearing through the forest. She stared as before her very eyes, a fiery ball consumed the canopy and any living thing unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast. Then, amongst the flame, an almost alien glow seemed to peek out and wink at the archon. She knew at that moment that Aether was at the center of that light. She watched as, just before the flame could meet its maximum expansion, the light ejected itself from the superheated mass and accelerated through the air, heading northwards. They had a direction to search in, even if it seemed to cover an impossible distance.

"Aether.."

His eyes opened to the sound of his name; scanning left and then right, he tried his best to ascertain his location. When it became clear that wasn't enough, he sat up and was greeted by the warmth of a lit fire and the sight of his clothes neatly folded. He sat up in the makeshift bed of leaves and flowers and rubbed his head as he quietly called out to the empty darkness around him.

"Lumine…"