"Is that really your sword? It looks pretty dull." Makoto eyed the weapon with suspicion, the disbelief evident.
"You're not wrong, something happened to it..." Aether sighed, shaking his head.
He'd gained abilities tailor made for this world in particular, and for that he was eternally grateful to whatever those Statues were, but losing everything else in the process still greatly dissapointed the Traveller.
I backed up a few feet away from the Electro Archon and tried a few swings, the sword wasn't sluggish or powerful, not fast nor was it fragile, just empty.
An imaginary light bulb lit up above his head, perhaps he could use that.
Calling to the large bundles of Electro that followed Makoto like moths to a flame, he absorbed a safe amount to use. Using a sizable amount of the element was still difficult for him, losing hold of the free flowing power as soon as he lost focus was common during his first few days.
The glare Raiden Makoto sent his way when he accidently broke one of her prized tea cups no doubt had more energy in it than he could control even now.
Using his arm like a wire, the Electro energy gleefully ran through, leaving a tingle in Aether's nerves as they reached the pommel.
A unique trait his and Lumine's sword shared was that they were only made up of one. Unlike metal, which were made up of countless little particles, these weapons existed as a single entity that can never be broken, which had let the Travellers keep fighting on without risk of losing a weapon, either through battle damage or the item unable to handle the Starlight they possessed.
Another perk of this was that the entire weapon was conductive without any need for adjustments to the handle and the hilt.
The sword donned a light sheen of violet, fluctuating for a few seconds before calming down enough that any changes were invisible to their eyes that eclipsed any normal person's.
Aether swung in a wide diagonal arc, spinning on his heel as the air around him grew hot from the touch of his blade, trails of Electro highlighting the swing on a mesmerizing manner, it was like watching a star from up close.
"Well done!" Makoto's clapping reverberated through the empty training grounds, it was meant to be for her personal use, but went unused as she sought for approaches that involved minimal violence. It felt weird to be just given something like this, but the Archon wouldn't let him say no.
And if Raiden Makoto ever found a situation that needed physical conflict...
"Good morning, Makoto."
...She could always fall back on Raiden Ei, her twin sister who fought in the Archon War.
"Good Morning, Ei, what brings you here?" Makoto easily replied, almost like she was expecting this to happen.
"I didn't have a good view of who you found in the crash site, but I assume this is him?" Ei bowed, leaving my mind scrambling on how to respond to the gesture, he was regretting not taking Makoto up on her offer to teach him Inazuman customs.
Raiden Ei, however, didn't seem to care, understanding of the confusing situation he was in.
"I'd like to spar with him, given that he was most likely the source of the light that night." His blood went cold.
"Eh? I'm not so sure if he wants to..."
"It's merely a friendly clash of weapons, I'd like to see how sword arts from a different world differ from our own, as well." Her reasoning was quite sound, thinking of a decent excuse was impossible.
Maybe I'll see you early instead...
"Sure..."
Raiden Ei wordlessly strolled to the opposite end of the grounds, polearm at the ready, eyes focused with the intensity of thunder. This was someone who fought numerous gods and won, albeit holding back against him, or so Aether hoped.
I calmed my nerves and went to face her, gripping tightly on the handle of the weapon that's never left my side, even if it was in a depleted state.
"Alright, here we go!" Oblivious to the slaughter he was about to enter, Makoto raised an arm to the skies above.
"Begin!" She shouted as her hand rapidly went down, signaling the start of the duel, not unlike what he's seen before in other places. He's been a spectator to these sort of battles more often than a participant, the utterance of those words were usually followed up by a battle cry as both contestants charged at the other.
Not here, though, Ei stayed as still as a statue, and he did the same, holding his sword vertically in front of him, as straight as an arrow, ready to react to whatever might come.
Seeing that he wasn't going to make the first mode, Ei lunged, starting with a downward slash, quick and efficient, moving so fast Aether could barely block it in time. Even with all of his sword's perks, it still couldn't absorb the massive shockwaves the strike sent through his arms. The duelists were locked in a stalemate, weapons screeching in anticipation.
Looking back at it, he was stupid for not asking if there were any rules, Aether wasn't sure if using the Electro around him was allowed.
The deadly end of Ei's naginata flickered with the familiar magenta light of Electro, he must've been using Elemental Sight without realizing it, his control over the ability was still inadequate. But it at least confirmed that use of the elements weren't prohibited, the God's strength held at a steady pace, and so did his, knowing this, Aether made the next move.
Giving it his all, he pushed back, giving him a split second to follow up, and so he did. The Electro element filled his sword as it spread throughout his body, quickening his movements enough to do a hundred-eighty degree spin to build up momentum, connecting with he still recovering polearm and sending both of them back a few feet.
Digging his feet into the ground, Aether fully expected another assault to come, but met the sight of Ei putting her weapon away, and found himself doing the same.
Makoto was nowhere to be found, strangely enough, even though their fight couldn't have gone on for even half a minute.
"Interesting, could you perhaps demonstrate a few more swings?"
Ei mused, and I obliged.
The style of fighting he used was supposed to take advantage of the superior speed his missing Starseekers gave him, with all the extensive swings it involved, it was kind of bland. Electro let him replicate that same speed to a lesser degree but over smaller area, allowing more precision.
"Considering how you fought earlier, it makes sense, but you're dead if you fight someone with superior speed." That was true, though they never really thought about how to deal with an enemy like that, seeing as they never encountered any.
"I myself am not very experienced in this, so..." She pointed her weapon at him again.
"I will attack you as often as possible, you will defend from all of my strikes, Understood?" He wanted to say no, but doing so to Ei might incur the wrath of both sisters, so Aether meekly nodded.
This was going to be a long day.
An exhausted Aether panting heavily on the floor with glassy eyes was what Raiden Makoto found when she returned in the night.
In a flash, her artificial Statue of the Seven was glowing, rejuvenating the poor man as struggled to sit up. She really needed to think of a shorter name for the contraption.
"Your sister's ruthless..." He choked out in between hungry breaths, craving for the sweet air.
"She's taken an interest in you." I giggled, and Aether just looked at me like she said boars could fly.
"Anyways, get up, there's something I want to show you." He was heaved up mercilessly and dragged off to the city of Inazuma.
There weren't as many people in the night was what Aether observed from the times he would watch over the city from Tenshukaku, but not this time.
Maybe seeing their Archon strutting about at this time of day, perhaps it was because they were on edge after the incident he unintentionally caused during one such night, or it was because of him just being here, a foreigner being given a tour throughout their city by their God.
Their hushed whispers were a mix of fear and awe, he could even make out some gossip among the curious bystanders, the subject they were discussing was not something he wanted to think about right now.
Thankfully, he didn't have to endure that punishment for long, as a familiar house with a roof as red as an apple entered his vision, the Naganoharas, if Aether could recall properly.
"Please wait here." Makoto requested as she made her way inside, and Aether saw no reason to disobey.
"Hey mister!" A squeaky voice chirped from behind him.
Running up to him without the uncertainty of the adults were a trio of children, probably a group of good friends, if their matching clothing was any indication.
He was never good with children, moving forward with a single-minded obsession that obscured everything around him, that motivation vanished the moment Aether woke up, so why not give this a try, too?
"Can you do that huge firework again?" ...This was why, the honesty of the young meant they were always helpful when asked something, but their own questions never beat around the bush, either.
"...What huge firework thing?" Maybe he was reading too deeply into the situation, a side effect of all the people staring.
"That really bright one, like the sun!" The girl on the left replied, eyes sparkling.
"...The one last month?" His voice was one of dejection, in the eyes of the people around him, he could destroy this city in a heartbeat.
"Yeah, that one!" The kid on the left jumped up and down, his eyes shining with the same excitement as the other two.
Aether was beginning to have a headache, lying would just make him even more suspicious.
...Surely they'll forget after a while, right?
"Sorry, that was kind of a one time thing..." The awkwardness went unnoticed by the three friends, who repeatedly insisted on him to replicate a cataclysmic event that would likely turn this planet to cinders.
He was thankfully saved by their mothers, who scooped up their children before profusely apologizing, despite reassurance that it was okay.
With timing impeccable as ever, Makoto returned, giving him some leeway as all attention was on her.
"Apologies for the delay, let's go." She was much more formal in public, he observed, no doubt to make the job of Ei whenever she took over a little easier.
He gladly resumed their journey, stopping at a strange cart thing that sold some chewy delicacy called dango before they left the city.
The Grand Narukami Shrine loomed to their far right as the two stood on the sandy borders of the island, their destination, an isle full of sakura trees, radiating happiness thst could be felt even from here.
"That's Amakane Island, hold my hand." Makoto said, reaching out to him.
"What?"
"I'm not going to shock you again, just take it, please?" His resistances melted with that last word, and Aether found himself taking it immediately without another word.
She gently dragged him to a deformed tree rooted in the sands, and gave it a slight shock, awakening the being inside. A small creature emerged from the center, shaped like a flower and pulsing with Electro energy, it hung next to her shoulder.
"This is an electrogranum, pretty, right?" The electrogranum released a pulse that he could only see with Elemental Sight, unveiling hidden... things, Aether had nothing in his vocabulary to describe them.
A string of Electro energy linked Makoto and the mysterious contraptions, and with a light tug on her end, the two were sent flying to Amakane Island, with Aether screaming his head off all the way.
His mouth tasted the sweet, grotesque texture of sand, and he could hear Makoto laughing her life away to his right, annoying him enough to pull his head out of the ground and glare at the woman, only to turn into fear as Raiden Ei stood next to her sister, smiling faintly in contrast to the Archon who was clutching her torso tightly.
"I take it his first attempt went well?" Ei only got a shaky thumbs up as Makoto tried to wipe away her tears of joy.
I pouted and stood up, which only amused the Godly twins further.
"Any more surprises?" He grumbled.
"None, not to worry, Aether." Raiden Ei replied as Raiden Makoto finally got herself under control.
"That was priceless, but it's almost time, let's go!" She pointed to the peak of of the small cliff that stood upon the mountain, at the other side of stairs they had cleared in the blink of an eye.
"What are we waiting for, exactly?" I asked the two.
"Just wait, you'll see!" The dango was passed around, and it actually tasted good, despite the look that reminded him of a slime.
"This is pretty good..."
"Of course it is, dango has no wrong." This time, Ei answered, clearly her love for this treat knew no bounds.
"It's soft, sweet, cheap, and everywhere, only a fool would ignore it."
"It gets stuck in my teeth pretty easily though, they should just sell it in liquid form..." Aether mumbled, trying to pry the stray pieces of goodness stuck I'm between his teeth.
"People would buy it to no end, much too unhealthy, even for us Gods."
"Mix it with something healthy, then, water? Milk might be decent, it matches the colors too..." He contemplated, and Ei looked at him like a normal person would to someone who found a way to obtain immortality.
"I will consider it."
"Shhh, it's starting!" The Electro Archon interjected, prompting him to follow her gaze: right at the sky?
A small sparkle emerged from below, rising up to the blank canvas of the night sky, leaving a trail stars in its wake as the light rapidly expanded, filling the world with light.
Thanks to his eyes adjusted for looking directly at stars, he could easily observe the picture the explosion created, a star shining brightly against the darkness of the world, fighting until its last breath.
And below, there was the symbol of Raiden Makoto, in the middle of a multitude of houses, creating what he assumed to be Inazuma.
Those kids got their wish after all, are they watching?
...Are you?
"This is..." I whispered.
"Indeed, this was your battle." Ei said, staring at the masterpiece in front of them.
"Here, take this." Makoto handed me a tiny slip of paper, various things were scribbled onto the paper, almost reaching the orange colored edges of the small parchment.
"If you ever feel like seeing this again, show them that." I flashed a smile and gently protected the note with my hands, he'd like to do that, someday.
"I'm a bit curious, how is your sword still intact? I didn't hold back much when we sparred, and it survived whatever you did up there, what properties does it carry?" Raiden Ei asked, looking away.
"To put it simply... It can't break, it is always one, nothing more, nothing less."
"Amazing, does it have a name?"
"No, actually..." He trailed off, and Ei closed her eyes in thought.
"I'd like to compare it with the Musou Isshin some time, then."
"The what?"
"It's mine, though I never really use it..." Raiden Makoto piped up, moving her right index finger in a downwards motion, a weapon that looked to be made of pure Electro energy appeared, its single edge glimmering serenely, the opposite of what weapons were supposed to be.
"This sword is a symbol of peace."
"Sorry if this is a bit of a sore topic, but what actually happened up there?" Makoto asked with an apologetic look, but even without that, he would've answered regardless.
"...I wasn't lying about the God, I just left out the finer details..."
"I had a sister, Lumine." It always hurt to even think of her before, but now, it felt good.
"Sometimes, I hope she's still out there, but disappearing without a trace..." Aether continued emotionlessly, his palms hurting from how tight he held himself.
"Until you check this entire world for her, you wont give up, right?" I could only grunt in response.
"Then I won't stop you from leaving, but... just come back every once in a while, okay?" Makoto held her hand out, and he took it.
"I hope you find her."
He felt hot, at first Aether took it as the pleasant kind, but it quickly became the sweltering, sticky sort. To distract himself from the heat, he bit down on the dango in his mouth, only to find nothing there, only his tongue that was now bleeding.
The temperature rose further, the sakura petals around them transformed into ash, the grass below turned to stone, and Makoto wasn't holding his hand.
Instead, she lay limp in Ei's arms, lifeless as Khaenri'ah burned around them, it killed him whenever this happened. He would forget he was dreaming, but this place would always remind him.
Something whizzed past him, so quick he had to push his elemental sight to the limit to keep track of the figure, Aether saw... Aether, it never changed, the same day, over and over again.
When he took over the Abyss Order, showing a strange kind of mercy, killing the dead to put them to rest.
That's how Dainsleif put it, before the two went their seperate ways.
But mercy was never his intent, only to keep a firm grip on the ghosts of Khaenri'ah under the guise of leadership, with promises of tearing down Celestia.
No matter what Aether thought about his surface intentions, the true reason always shined like a star in the night sky, to broaden his reach, search the continents faster, find her.
Her. Lumine. When he first found his footing in this world thanks to Makoto, his declaration to search the world for her was full of conviction, determination.
Now, it was just numbness. After searching most of what this world had to offer, there was nothing to be shown for his efforts.
There was always the possibility that she...
No.
The Abyssal Prince wrenched his eye open, and sprinted for the mouth of the cave, that couldn't be.
The teleport waypoint next to his sleeping bag was ignored, it had no use at the moment.
His Pyro blessing automatically lit the torches around him, guiding the man through the crooked stone steps of the makeshift observation deck he the walls, paper was pinned to the stone, marking the flight patterns and perches of his target.
There was one more place he and the Abyss Order had never gone to.
Celestia.
And with the dragon perched on a cliff, ruthlessly gnawing into the former citizens of Khaenri'ah, their wondrous technology reduced to stick and stones, the energy of their own making no longer needing them, they instead followed the status quo and grasped the elements.
Dvalin.
His best shot at grabbing Barbatos' attention, especially in the dilapidated state the forgotten protector of Mondstadt was now in, the battle with Durin still leaving its toll, five hundred years later.
With elemental sight, it was almost too easy to see the poison, draining the life of the East Wind and releasing it to the air in a clotted blood red substance, difficult to see for natural humans, but he wasn't human.
Dissatisfied with the insufficient sustenance, Dvalin sluggishly unfurled his dark blue wings and took off, losing balance for a moment before shakily flying to their next destination in a burst of speed, their so called home, the ruins of Decarabian's tower.
The timing was nice, Aether wandered near the invisible cloud of abyssal toxins, calling upon the winds to bring the impurities to him, congregating right above the palm of his hand, just in case it could affect him.
Unscrewing a glass container in their other hand, the conglomerate of darkness incarnate was safely contained.
Would this be enough for him?
He didn't take the time to ponder on the question, his consciousness leaving the body as all of Teyvat was laid before his mind's eye, littered with various dots: Statues of the Seven and the waypoints.
At the base of the mountain between Liyue and Mondstadt, the grave of Durin, Dragonspine, was one of those dots, he couldn't see anything when the waypoint was activated, feeling was lost for that same infinite moment, taken over by the bitter cold of the dead in the next.
The jewels embedded into his clothing took a red hue, and steam rose from his body as the Pyro fought back against the relentless snowstorms of the treacherous mountain.
Sighing, Aether trudged up the uneven slope, watching the same things happen since his last visit. To the far south, a Mitachurl was bullying a cryo slime, smashing the oversized dango into their damaged shield, pieced of the shattered ice scattered around a lump of Starsilver.
A diamond in the rough, even among the valuable Starsilver, was a bloodstone, a crystalline structure that, as its name suggests formed from Durin's tainted blood. It was the first idea that he thought of when Dvalin reappeared, but all attempts of curing the rocks were failures.
The monotonous view faded as he neared his destination, a tent, basking in an orange glow coming from the inside, the abode of the Homunculus.
A rope was next to the closed tent flap, connected to a bell in the inside, alerting the owner of his presence with a simple tug.
A snow white coat, dull cyan eyes and a heart as cold as ice was what greeted him when the tent flaps opened.
"Please, come in." Going against the wishes of thse types of people never really fared well for him, so he took to obeying Albedo's less... absurd commands.
Aether sat down on an extra wooden stoll as the Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius poured a cup of hot water for both of them. After making sure thst nothing funny was mixed in, I hesitantly drank it.
"It is a pleasure to see you, have you brought as I requested?" No matter how respectful someone's choice of words could be, tone still played a major factor in conversations.
"Likewise." Aether mindlessly replied, procuring the container filled up with the tainted divine blood of the dragon, being aware of what mistakes could be made did not mean he couldn't do the same.
Albedo gingerly held the glass, and went went to work, taking the cursed blood away and preparing everything he needed, things Aether didn't want to bother concerning himself with.
"Excuse me." I sat up and went outside the tent, using Elemental Sight to scan the nearby snow for any signs of a message.
"Sire." The hollow voice, the feeling of the newcomer coming closer without any footsteps, he expectantly turned around to one of his agents. The Cryo shield protecting the mage from the cold but not messing with the surroundings like other elements would, convenient.
"Meeting in the open is dangerous."
"Apologies, Sire, but I felt you should know of this as soon as possible."
"Very well." I called to the earth, raising a Geo construct reaching up to his knees, enough for him to sit down on for the report.
"The Fatui are aware of the... Target you have set your sights upon, the Harbinger Signora has set foot in the city."
"One Harbinger is still manageable, interfe withh any agents they send to search for Dvalin, but do not make your presence known to Signora." The pieces were already set in place, he'd only have to hasten his movements to keep ahead of the Tsaritsa's goons.
"Yes, Sire. Permission to speak?" The Abyss mage was bouncing from one levitating foot to the other.
"Granted."
"S-should we not a-ally with the Tsaritsa? Their goals align with ours."
They pointed out, not the first time he was asked this, but this better be the last.
"If the Cryo Archon were to ally with us, she would essentially be declaring war on all of Teyvat, the fact that she hasn't reached out to us either means they are aware of this, or do not have the power necessary to do battle with Celestia, and there are some of us who still resent the Gods, their betrayal is all but guaranteed if this comes to be." The mage rapidly nodded and teleported away, leaving no traces behind.
Sighing, the Prince stood up and returned to the tent, which was now leaking a dark red light, the Geo chair he created crumbling into dust.
"I take it that the purification worked?" Aether didn't even need to look, he could feel the Anemo energy swirling in excitement.
The Alchemist nodded, retrieving the crystallized energies and sealing them in a a bag made from slime condensate, carefully exchanging it with me.
"I'll find more, until next time." I turned and left, the gelatinous bag disappearing into dust, waiting for its time to be called upon.
On the other side of Mondstadt, a waypoint flared to life, teleporting him back to his observation cave. The waypoints always transported him with Aether's feet already on the ground, he never really appreciated that until now, as a torrent of wind crashed through the cave, tearing up the papers and killing the fires, but he was spared.
Next, came a piercing cry of agony and despair, it reminded him of Inazuma, when Abyssal creatures invaded the lands, and the screams of the people as Khaenri'ah was razed into oblivion.
His hands hovered over a cord hidden around his left ribcage, the winds answered Aether's call, and he pulled sharply, unfurling the wind glider as the air that ransacked the cave was now carrying him out of it and to the sky, Elemental Sight already searching for the Dragon.
There wasn't anything on the ground, even the hilichurls and their former creations were missing, the ones designated with the moniker of Ruin.
So he turned his sight to the sky, and there the dragon was, plummeting to the earth like he did, crashing into what remained of Decarabian's tower of tyranny.
The Anemo behind him intensified, pushing Aether forward again with speed that rivaled the Falcon of the West, his eyes narrowing into tiny slits as he entered the cloud of dust spread by the impact.
Dvalin's elemental presence was weak now, but Aether could still spot him lying on his side at the base of the tower, stopped only by something else that reeked of violence.
As the winds died down and his descent begun, he watched as the once golden bricks of the tower crumble into dust, the monument of the dead God who gave freedom to the land by taking it now held one of its guardians in its bowels, and in a way, protected the East Wind.
Below the slumbering dragon was a magical array that drew power directly fower the ley lines, Decarabian likely constructed his tower at this location just for this, an impenetrable bunker and an inescapable prison, though it was only ever used for the latter.
A domain for the unfortunate protecting one of the most unfortunate of all, it was almost poetic enough to elicit a reaction from him if Dvalin wasn't in critical condition, regardless of the indestructible cushion he was on.
Landing a short distance away, he pulled out a small trinket, directing the gadget at the dragon, the energy stored within the fake was enough to heal him from major wounds once before a recharge, and it would probably do nothing to someone of this size, but as long as it helped, it didn't matter to him.
The glow of the item allowed him to see up close just how far the Dragon of the East Wind has fallen from grace, scales as green as his element were now the devouring navy blue of the Abyss, Dvalin's wing membranes were torn up at some sections, but not enough that he would never full recover, and protruding from the dragon's nape was a crooked thorn of pure abyssal energy, covering them in a dominant violent glow.
With the weak healing properties of the gift Aether recieved, Dvalin regained some of their natural color, and a short sigh of relief was seen in the form of steam blowing out from his nostrils.
Right before the nostrils were the eyes, and the Prince could see something, shining the best it could in the bright darkness of the cursed thorn.
Each step was as loud as thunder to his ears as he drew closer to the light, reaching out for the source that invited him with a silent lullaby.
As his fingertips enclosed around the light, he was knocked off his feet by an invisible force on his chest, like a punch that's been building up momentum for a thousand years. The strike knocked the wind out of his lungs and threw him off his feet, inadvertently revealing the culprit.
It was her. There could be no other answer as to why the cube would begin breaking. The choice of what to do if she returned was always there, but it was hard to choose now that Aether had to.
There was no dumb reason as to why Dvalin was awake now, staring right at him, either. The waypoint he needed to activate was well engraved in his memories, one of the first things he did once the Abyss Order was under his control.
Lumenstone dotted the smooth rock he landed on, stretching as wide as a city, but the wondrous light it emitted died out once the spectators arrived.
Hundreds, even thousands of the Abyss Order had come to personally witness this, many of them the ones who carved this cavern themselves, deep within the womb of the Chasm.
Now or never, Goddess.
It's time.
.
Though my wings've been bloodstained and could never rid...
.
AN:
First fanfic, first chapter, first one that I rewrote in its entirety, and hopefully the last.
