Prologue: End of the Beginning

"Traveler" Called Paimon as she looked at the stars.

Aether blinked once, surprised by the sudden mention of him. "What is it, Paimon?"

"Once you find your sister, can Paimon still travel with you?"

That was a good question.

Though Aether didn't know if she could even travel through worlds, he still answered her.

"Sure, you've been guiding me through Teyvat, it would be cruel to just leave you behind."

Paimon smiled. "Paimon is glad to hear that."

"Paimon wants to go star sighting in another world like you do with your sister."

Aether smiled back. "Once we finish our journey...I promise we'll do it."

"Want to make a pinky promise again?" Smiled Paimon.

"Again? At this point I will have to grow more pinkies in case I end up breaking them." Groaned Aether.

Paimon laughed. "It won't matter, Paimon knows you won't break them."

Aether then went back to star sighting with Paimon.

Yet he saw a shooting star coming.

"Oh! Oh! Paimon wants to make a wish! You should do it too, Traveler!" She said with excitement.

"A wish uh?" Muttered Aether.

He thought of one already.

But before he could tell her, he noticed that the comet was coming towards them.

Just then, he realized at that moment that this was a dream.

Though... he knew full well that the promise they made was real.

"Aether!"

The boy suddenly opened his eyes, and what he felt next was pain.

He saw blood that wasn't supposed to be there, and so, he quickly got up, ignoring the pain he was feeling from the sudden movement.

Upon looking toward where he heard his name, he saw a blonde figure clashing against some sort of creature.

However, it was clear given the situation he was currently in.

"Lumine!" He screamed as he raised his sword.

He didn't know what he was looking at, the only silhouettes he saw were of his sister and some sort of entity that was being blocked by the blood running down his head.

His sister however, had other ideas for him as she yelled. "Get out of here! Run to the exit!"

"W-what?" Aether made a confused sound as he looked around to see a familiar door.

It was the same door from when he tried to escape from this world with his sister.

Yet he looked back at his sister, baffled over the fact she even gave him such an order. "No! I'm not leaving you! I'm not going to just leave you here after taking so long to finally reunite with you!"

"We've already reunited many times!" She argued.

"That's not what I meant!" He bickered.

"Can you just stop arguing back?! This is serious! You'll be dead before you are even able to help me!"

"And I am dead serious about not leaving you here!"

"Aether! I'm telling you, just get to th-"

Lumine was hit by an attack that came so suddenly. Aether didn't react for a moment until he was able to process what had just happened.

"Lumine!" He cried again.

He raised his sword as he tried to run forward, but his injuries didn't allow him to run as fast as he could.

Aether started to breathe heavily as he felt so overwhelmed by the situation.

The words of his sister slowly took a hold of him as he started to tremble.

What should he do? He could run and possibly die trying to save his sister or get away and leave his sister to die.

What was more important, his life? Or his sisters?

The answer was obvious to him, it was the latter.

Yet he didn't have any choice in this matter, he was weak, and if anything, what he was planning to do was straight up suicidal.

While debating over what move he should do, he saw his sister dash from the rubble as she went to attack what had just hit her.

Defeating the entity, she let out a scream of rage as she then looked at her brother "You idiot! Just get to the door! I promise I'll get there as well once I deal with this! You're too injured to even walk correctly!"

Seeing his sister so adamant and confident about defeating the enemies, Aether could only sigh as he felt so weak, he knew full well that standing in the middle of the battlefield would mean that he would give Lumine more stuff to worry about.

And so, he decided to accept, not before asking her something.

"Do you promise, sis?"

Lumine gave him a gentle smile. "I promise."

And so, he slowly walked towards the door as he limped with shame.

To his surprise he saw none of the silhouettes coming after him.

He wanted to rub the blood off and see what was even going after him, but he knew full well what they were.

The so-called Heavenly Principles took action against them, it was their ultimatum.

Whether he broke from fate or not, he didn't know, perhaps this was all part of their plan.

But he didn't care, all he wanted was to get the hell out of here with the people he cared about.

The habitants of Teyvat were all people who he got along with, yet didn't truly help him. Even so, he didn't blame them, who would have expected his journey to be so complicated? There was no way that any of them would really be willing to help him to such an extent.

His sister would know. Dainsleif had been her companion, yet they ended up having different ideologies which led to a mess he had to fix.

It was bitter, yet he knew they weren't bad people.

As he was about to open the door, he widened his eyes.

Just like his sister had a companion, he had one, a very dear companion at that.

And so, he had to ask himself.

Where was Paimon?

Hastily looking around he saw no sight of her.

He looked around desperately, he looked like a lost child trying to find his parents, and yet, he took a few steps trying to go back.

The one who had guided him through the patches of thorns was nowhere to be seen, the one person who stuck with him until the end of his journey, where was she?

Conflicted, he felt disappointed with himself, he's the older sibling, in the many worlds he's traveled, it was common for the older one to always protect the younger brothers and sisters.

Yet here he was, looking so pathetic as he saw his younger sister fighting for him while he was looking for someone who was nowhere to be seen.

Desperately looking around, he tried to take a step back, yet the look his sister gave him told him to not go back on his word.

Yet again, he had to make a choice, each single one he took was starting to become much more impactful, and he knew that he would greatly regret picking the wrong one.

After a moment of thinking as chaos continued before him. He had decided himself, he gritted his teeth as he knew full well that this would not only hurt Paimon, but him as well.

Though he had promised her that she could travel with them, it appears that he would break that long standing promise, one that he knew she was waiting for to become true.

In a way, he was glad that she wasn't here, just so that he didn't have to see her look of despair, sadness, disappointment, whichever emotion she may have as he left her to die.

Trying to walk was becoming a chore by itself, and he saw his sister screaming and yelling as she took down another one of her enemies, each time telling him to leave immediately with increasing desperation.

In the end, he opened the door as he left the battlefield behind, the light of the door blinding him as he continued to take steps forward.

The light then ceased as he slowly opened his eyes. He gave a long drawn out sigh as he looked at the landscape he had in front of him.

An endless field of white roses.

He took a step forward, there was no sound whatsoever except his steps.

This place was peaceful, far more peaceful than he could ever remember.

Right, that may have been because Paimon was always loud.

And having her absent made the deafening silence even more unnerving.

He trembled, just then, it dawned on him that he had chosen the wrong option.

Turning his neck quickly, he looked behind back to the door, he saw that the door had been closed, expecting the worst, he nervously started taking steps back.

He extended his hand and touched the door as he tried to push just a bit, trying to open it again.

It didn't budge.

He then tried to push even harder than before.

It didn't work

He banged on the door.

Neither did this.

He hit the door with more force.

The door was slowly being tainted with Aether's blood.

He punched the door.

A big splat marked it.

He scratched the door.

Nothing could damage it.

He threw his body with the strength he had left to ram against the door.

It was futile.

He then screamed, cursing this situation.

Yet what he heard was his own desperation.

He begged, he wished to see his sister again.

His sister didn't respond from the other side.

He pleaded, he wanted to go back and help her.

But he couldn't

He whispered, he asked himself why even listened to her.

Yet it wouldn't open.

He regretted it.

He regretted going through the door.

Time continued to pass, and Lumine never came through the door.

Aether fell to the ground, his wounds were still bleeding, the white roses turned red as they were tainted by his blood.

His sister lied to him, and he lied to Paimon.

And now, he was alone, nearing death.

Was this how he would go out?

Tears ran down his face as he gave a small laugh.

"Why did I even leave this world to begin with..." He softly said as his vision, which was already blurry slowly got worse.

The answer was clear to begin with, it was his sister.

Yet he sometimes wondered if he could truly settle in Teyvat.

"Why did I leave both of you behind..."

"We had no time to say goodbye..."

"And this time, I am forced to accept that you'll never come back..."

"I'll die alone, like a star in the middle of nowhere..."

In the end, though he regretted leaving behind Lumine, something was far more concerning in his mind.

Guilt.

"I'm really cruel… aren't I?"

"I regret leaving you behind..."

"I guess... We won't be able to go star sighting like we promised..."

"I'm sorry."

He closed his eyes, and so, he took his last breath as he remembered the many promises he made with her along the way.

One stuck around in particular, the moment when they truly became true companions.

Paimon and Aether could be seen laying down on grass over a hill.

It was night and they saw the stars up in the sky.

"Hey, Traveler." Paimon called out.

"Yes, Paimon?"

"You name... it's not your real one, right?"

Aether looked at her for a moment, it was sooner or later when she would realize, and so, he was honest with her. "It's not."

"Then... will Paimon ever be able to learn it?"

"... I don't know." Aether knew full well the weight of saying his name.

To him, it was a way to show intimate trust with someone else.

That is why only his sister knew of it, as those who were to learn it would end up dying or never seeing him again.

As such, this sort of close bond never really lasted, hence why he tried to be distant to those of Teyvat.

"Paimon'll wait, Paimon can understand why you would not want to reveal your name." Softly laughed Paimon.

Aether simply looked back at the night sky.

In the end, he couldn't simply deny her such a request.

It was funny, someone he met so recently would end up having a much more impactful effect on him than someone who's been by his side for so long.

Perhaps it was because he was finally opening up to someone else who wasn't his sister.

"Aether." He revealed.

"Ah?" Voiced Paimon.

"That's my actual name, I should have revealed it to you since... you've been by my side trying to help me search for my sister."

Paimon smiled. "Paimon is glad."

"You trust Paimon enough to reveal your name."

"I'm glad that made you happy but... will I ever get to know more about you?" Wondered Aether.

He didn't go into her backstory, or what she did before he met her.

In a way, it was a mutual understanding to not tell one another who they truly were or what their backstory was.

Paimon remained silent for a moment before finally answering. "... Perhaps telling you a bit about what Paimon was doing before you fished Paimon out would be fine."

"If so, let's not ever talk about this ever again, so that this becomes our little secret, do you promise?" Aether said as he extended his pinky.

Paimon accepted it as she used her pinky as well. "Paimon promises."

The blood puddle he had created slowly extended through the garden of white roses.

He was then engulfed by that same puddle, his corpse floating inside nowhere.

And yet, his heartbeat started once again.

His hand twitched, the sensation of floating confused him as he tried to move.

When he put his hand in front of him, all he saw were bubbles, a tiny hand and a hook.

He tried moving his own hand, yet the small hand moved as it grasped the hook.

Aether tugged on it, not knowing what to expect.

"Is this what death feels like?" He wondered to himself.

If so, he saw it fitting for him, he was floating inside nothing, powerless to do anything to be unable to change his situation whatsoever.

He felt himself moving towards the light, blinded as the sound of water surfacing was heard.

Aether slowly opened his eyes to see a girl with white hair, many of her clothes reminded him of what he used to wear.

But she looked oddly familiar, as if he was seeing a dead ringer.

"Paimon? Is that you?" He thought.

No, this girl wasn't her, she wasn't small, if anything she was a girl around the height of him and his sister.

In a way, he was stuck looking at her, wondering if this is what Paimon would have looked had she had the chance to grow or at the very least had been taller than the shorty she was.

He chuckled weakly, he wondered why he mused himself with such trivial thoughts.

Perhaps it was to the possibility of the three of them leaving this world and bonding as siblings.

But in reality, he knew he was simply thinking about impossible outcomes.

He should have heeded the rules his sister and him had previously created, the one to never get too close to the dwellers of other worlds, as they would one day have to leave or watch how they died of old age.

"Hey! You're not a fish!" The girl said.

Aether was still too weak to really say a word. He could only watch as the girl got closer to his face.

She really looked like Paimon.

Aether looked around and recognized they were at a beach, one that he was quite familiar with.

It was the place where he fished Paimon out.

He gave a soft nervous laugh.

Just what the hell did he get himself into?

In a way, he knew damn well this was not good for his mental health, not after what he had to go through just to meet his sister.

He also had to wonder.

What happened to his clothes and why are they different?

End of Prologue

(A/N)

Now that I have a decent amount of understanding relating to Genshin Impact, I've decided to write this fanfic idea I've had ever since I got interested in the game. FYI, I did read the manga, and currently, I have yet to start Sumeru's Archon quest.

As with all of my other fanfics, I remove or amplify a certain trait of the MC. In this case, I've amplified Aether's bond with Paimon. I always loved the idea of Aether seeing Paimon as another little sister.

I will be taking a few liberties, the main attraction of this fic is how much I can change the characters while keeping their key ingredients intact, what I mean by that is, let's take Razor for example, he was still raised by wolves but he was able to get into society much quicker, or if Amber was actually stabbed by Collei and so on. In other words, the characters backstory will change due to a change of personality or the characters will have a change of personality due to a different backstory.

A few of the events that happen in the game will be completely altered to be an entirely new story but it will follow the general trip that Aether took, which means he'll go in the same order of each region.

As previously mentioned, many of the characters in this fic will have their personalities and background changed, but still be close enough to still have the identity they have. So don't expect to see your favorite character act the same way, if anything, they will be completely overhauled or changed drastically.

This nameless character that fished Aether out is indeed Paimon, but her name will simply be "Traveler".

Another warning I should mention is that I expect the story to take a really dark turn, so be wary of any possible trigger warnings I may end up adding. The main reasons being mostly the Fatui Harbingers (Guess who specifically lmao) and the Archons.

When it comes to ships, there probably will be none except 2 that I have planned to implement, if by any chance I end up making ships, they are likely going to be rare pairs. Keep in mind, this is an AU where the characters are different to their canon. Either way, it won't ever be official ships to the fic,but rather ones that the readers can choose to either see as pairings or not, I plan on making it an open interpretation.

I will actually try to cover all events of Genshin, which include limited ones, Though drastically changed. I am using a guide of the order of the events which I got from reddit (Kohitantan). As such I will be using it as a template to the order of stuff I will write, some will be excluded due to certain characters not appearing yet or changing them with others, but that will come later on.

Character used in the cover is Voyager from FGO, and will be used as the look Aether uses in this fic.

It might be possible for me to add a few references to Project Moon media, but there won't be anything really important, just quotes and references.

Just to make sure, none of my fics are based in the same universe, they're their own separate stories.

As for my other fics, WMSW is still being worked on, but I decided to focus on this just so that I can't end up having a burnout with that fic, while my react fic is currently "on hold" which isn't exactly true, I write chapters, but I don't release them, right now, I have like 4-5 chapters written just need to give them reactions and a few touchers and they should be done.

Anyways, that's all for now, I will probably try to post a few more chapters later on and go back to working on WMWS, I'll see y'all next update.