"I… feel… cold as a razor blade, tight as a tourniquet, dry as a funeral drum."

- Roger Waters, The Wall

Aether's earlier burst of adrenaline was all but gone. He had lost count on how many times he had duelled the Electro Archon, but he felt as if it was in the hundreds of times. The blonde traveller, sweat baked into his clothes, was at his wits end.

"Aether, darling, you might as well forfeit at this point. You are clearly overexerting yourself." Ei's words of discouragement had the opposite effect on Aether, invigorating him slightly. He knew that if he gave up, he'd be stuck in Euthymia until either the end of time or the destruction of Ei's consciousness. Either way, he'd die, which is something he'd like to prevent. He had a sister to find, after all. His Dull Blade was almost reduced to atoms, with Aether being able to feel it breaking further every time it collided with Ei's polearm.

"You know I won't concede to the likes of you, Ei." Aether said with a snarl on his face. Ei merely smiled at him.

"I know. That's why I am concerned for you, my dear." The moment Ei said that, she stored away her polearm and slowly walked toward Aether. Aether desperately backed away from her as she approached, adopting a defensive stance. "Why the cold feet all of a sudden? I am wide open for you, darling. Come and claim your prize…" Ei said, with a wink. Aether didn't buy it one bit, to Ei's expectations.

"Archons, do I have to spell it out to you? I am willing to let you go, Aether." Aether was backed against one of the many petrified Torii in Euthymia, which gave Ei ample opportunity to pin him against it, with little resistance. She cupped Aether's chin, not before dragging them both into a long and drawn out kiss. She easily wrestled his tongue into ultimate submission, only separating to catch her own breath. "It has been far too long since we've kissed. All of this duelling has made my hunger for you only grow and grow, Aether." Ei composed herself, and expressed her grand plan.

"I will let you roam free from the Plane of Euthymia, but only if you let me do what I am about to." Ei giggled to herself.

"Wh… What?" Aether stared at Ei, fear in his eyes genuine. Ei smiled slightly, with the purple in her eyes dulling..

"This. Try not to scream too much, dear."

Ei placed her hand against Aether's chest, with it sinking into it. A horrified Aether looked on as the Electro Archon literally ripped out the element of Electro from within him. Aether withheld the urge to scream, only groaning in extreme pain slightly before letting out a stream of tears. Ei held the coalesced Electro in her hand, smiling and also letting out a chuckle. Summoning the Musou Isshin, she infused Aether's Electro power into the blade, now resting along with hers and her sisters' consciousness. The sword shone a brilliant glow as Aether stared in complete silence and sorrow. Just as he feared, the once brilliant flow of electricity that coursed through his veins had all but disappeared, leaving only Anemo and Geo as his sole two elements.

"What the… Wha…" Aether said, exasperated while wincing in pain from that experience. Ei just sighed.

"Hm? Oh. I just… took away your Electro powers, my darling Aether. Don't worry, it is merely a temporary arrangement. I need something of yours to keep me sane, after all."

Aether was completely silent. He had absolutely no idea how to react, nor did he know what she truly meant by sane. Either way, if he found out, he feels as if it wouldn't end well at all for him. Besides, his chest was still in excruciating pain.

"No words, hm? That's okay, darling. Now, I suppose it is time that I let you roam free once again. But before that, I must remind you of something important, dear.." Ei got extremely close to Aether, pressing up against him as she whispered tentatively in his ear. "You are mine, Aether. You are no one else's, except my own. And you better remember that, or else… I might keep you here longer next time. Maybe… I'll keep you here for 200 years? Nah. 300 will be way better. Oh, and I won't show you any mercy. Any at all." Ei said, before kissing him for what felt like minutes on end yet again.

"There will be grave, grave consequences if you disobey me, Aether. I will miss you when you are gone from the Plane, admittedly, but if this is what you wish, then so be it." Ei said, with a chuckle that turned into mad laughter. Aether was positively disturbed, not before he felt the floor give way, like many times before. Immediately, he found himself in the chambers where the Shogun usually resides. In fact, right in front of him was the Raiden Shogun, who was looking slightly confused and mortified upon seeing Aether.

"I see the one within finally freed you. It would be in your best interest to leave this place, before she changes her mind and brings you back." The Shogun said, before shooting Aether a soft smile. "It is nice to see that she changed her mind. You are lucky to have survived."

Saying nothing, Aether swiftly stumbled out of the labyrinth that is Tenshukaku. Turns out, it was morning. He hoped that it was the same year, no, the same month. Breathing air felt revitalising and liberating, as if he hadn't felt the graceful touch of oxygen for eons. Inazuma had never looked so beautiful before, after enduring a dark and dull landscape like Euthymia for so long. He took one long look at the Statue of the Omnipresent God, and proceeded to spit in its general direction. Good thing no members of the Tenryou Commission saw him, or anyone for that matter. Seeing the glowing peak of Mount Yougou, he hastily went towards it, ignoring anyone that saw him in his current state, god forbid Yoimiya saw him in his current state.

Yae Miko was attending to regular Yae Miko duties, such as admiring the Sacred Sakura, keeping the shrine maidens in line and reviewing manuscripts submitted by aspiring writers. A few of the stories got her attention, but most were either reincarnation stories or generic romance light novels. Most of the time, the ones that were fortunate enough to pass her judgement performed admirably at the Yae Publishing House and abroad, which brought in plenty of Mora for the business.

Kamisato Ayaka on the other hand, was waking up from a great slumber. Paimon was still sound asleep next to her, so she had to be real quiet. The Guuji had requested her to stay at the shrine overnight, for whatever reason. She had no real reason to go back to her estate so she agreed. Getting a nice view of Tenshukaku, she stared longingly at the large complex, wondering, waiting. She had never known true emotional pain, yet here she was experiencing it. The pain, even agony of not being able to save her friend, hell, her love interest brought on a completely different emotion.

Sorrow.

She had never felt this "sorrow" before, but according to her brother, it is the "true accumulation of every emotion that is related to or can be called sadness, times 10." She was realising that he may have had a point.

The gentle, calming breeze blowing on Mount Yougou filled her ears, accompanied by the rustling of the numerous Sakura trees at the shrine. She softly wept to herself while she sat on the edge of the mountain. A beautiful day it was, overshadowed by her mental torment from losing the one man she cared about most to the woman that she had looked up to for her entire life.

Aether, finding himself at the top of Mount Yougou, sighed in satisfaction. He had hoped that no one was around to see him in this sorry state, though Paimon had seen him in worse forms. He missed her dearly, wondering where the little pixie was. The shrine maidens had seen him though, but they ignored him for the most part. He wouldn't want Yae to see him like this either, she'd probably be pissed that she had to tend to his wounds once again. Though, she'd probably be over the moon that he finally returned.

He slowly shifted to the main courtyard, where the Sacred Sakura graced him with its presence. Kneeling directly in front of it, he clasped both of his hands together tightly and began a silent, yet desperate prayer, all the while letting the dam that held back decades worth of tears burst open. He had no idea why he willingly did this, maybe it was due to trauma or out of shock. Thinking about it didn't make him stop doing it, either way.

Unfortunately for him, the three people he had hoped to not see at all saw him.

Paimon arose from her slumber, rubbing her eyes. She decided to try and find Ayaka, since at least she was someone to talk to, as she figured that Yae Miko was likely elsewhere doing something important. One glance at the Sacred Sakura made her mood the highest it had been these past few days.

Ayaka was returning to the Shrine's courtyard when she saw Paimon eagerly float towards the Sacred Sakura. Ayaka, seeing where Paimon was going to, saw the long flowing hair of her beloved blonde traveller. She subsequently squealed in delight.

Yae Miko had just returned from Inazuma City, and was going to examine the Sacred Sakura for any faults in the shape, which quite obviously was in her image. Greeting the shrine maidens as she returned, she saw the sight of Aether on his knees in front of the tree, and was what only she could describe: "delightfully concerned".

Aether turned around to see all three of them approaching them, and grimaced slightly while trying to find a way to escape the situation, not before Ayaka caught him in her tight and unwavering embrace. Paimon and Yae Miko soon joined them, all earnestly hugging him.

"Out of the way, damn it!" Aether yelled, bursting out of the group's collective embrace. Ayaka and Miko were slightly confused at this altercation. Paimon was livid.

"The hell was that for, little one?" Aether composed himself, while thinking of something to say back.

"I've uh… got things on my mind, a lot of things… at the moment. I need to go." A flustered Aether spat out, wiping his tears away while quickly grabbing Paimon. Picking up his pace, he tried to get out of there quickly before the two other women managed to corner him and have a long lengthy discussion with him. By this point, Paimon couldn't care less. She was just happy to be with him.

"Aether… did we do something to upset you? Please, tell us." Yae nodded in agreement with Ayaka's plea.

"No, it's just… I…" Aether stuttered.

"What is it, Aether? Come on honey, tell me." The Guuji said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Honey.

The one thing Aether hated more than the Abyss Order was being called some word of endearment. All they did was remind him of her, especially her insistence on calling him 'darling' or whatever. It scared him to the core, goosebumps appearing on his skin. He angrily slapped Yae's hand off of his shoulder, doing nothing to lessen her growing confusion and worry over him. Reaching the teleport waypoint outside the Shrine, he used it like all the other times he had used it before, only this time, he turned to face the Shirasagi Himegimi and the Guuji, to say a few words.

"I'm sorry."

"Aether, wait!" Ayaka reached out to him, but it was for naught. In an instant, he and Paimon had vanished. The two women sat there in silence, before Ayaka quietly left the Shrine leaving Miko all alone. She angrily kicked one of the many Torii that led to the entrance, splintering and nearly shattering its pillar entirely. The lone shrine maiden looked on as the Guuji quietly walked back into the main building of the Shrine. Slowly yet surely, tears began to fall from Miko's eyes once again.

Heartbreak. Yet another emotion Yae Miko had never felt, and she was feeling it now. It was pure pain. She had no clue what was going on, she was frustrated at Aether leaving her in the dark and she was sad that she didn't even get the chance to talk to him for more than a single minute. She cried for what felt like hours on end. She only stopped when a shrine maiden came into the building to do shrine-related activities.

Regaining her composure, she had to figure out what happened. So, she decided to make a trip to the one place that had her answers laid there. She hoped that her stubborn friend would let her in, or else she personally would raise hell.

Aether and Paimon materialised right in front of the Statue of the Seven on Watatsumi Island. He had to test something before he went and saw Kokomi, whether or not Ei was bluffing or that she had in fact taken away his Electro for good.

"Aether? What are we doing here exactly? Paimon kinda doesn't get it…"

"I… I need to test something, Paimon."

Approaching the statue, Aether gently pressed his hand against it, breathing in deeply. As he had feared, it had no effect at all. No sudden resurgence of Electro, no feeling of static electricity in the air. It was truly gone. Aether sighed deeply and cried softly, with Paimon comforting him the best she could.

"Aether? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Aether composed himself, wiping away his tears again while sniffing slightly. "It's nothing, Paimon. Let's just get to Sangonomiya's place."

"Okay…"

Aether gracefully glided down to the front entrance of the shrine. Greeting the various guards and shrine maidens he made his way to the front step of the shrine, with Kokomi conveniently coming out as soon as he got there. The Divine Priestess smiled almost immediately upon seeing Aether.

"Ah! You've returned!" Kokomi said, clasping her hands together. Aether returned a meek smile. She noticed that something was off, but brushed it aside for now. Her favourite captain had just returned, and it was a needed motivator. "What brings you back, Aether?"

"I have a proposal that I'd like to make. Are you free at all?" The directness that was demonstrated startled the Priestess a little bit, but it was a welcome change.

"I believe I am free for most of the day. What would you like to discuss?"

Aether silently contemplated, then was dead set on his idea. Hopefully he would be able to persuade her somehow. Paimon merely went along for the ride. It couldn't be THAT outrageous, could it?

Yae Miko barged in viciously and marched towards the Shogun, with the puppet quickly noticing the incoming storm coming right at her.

"Hello, Lady Guuji. I assume you're here to see the one within?" The Shogun said, with the regular blank expression on her face.

"Yeah, I'm here to get some archon-damn answers out of her. Ei, could you let an old friend like me visit you?~" Miko said, teasingly.

Yae Miko suddenly found herself in the same echo-ey expanse that she had been in many times. In the distance was the woman herself.

"Ah, Miko. Here to bring me more tricolour dango? I have been craving it rather fervently recently."

"That's a nice way to say hi to an old friend, Ei."

"Well, you didn't exactly make the nicest entrance into Tenshukaku. What answers do you need, Miko?"

The two women locked gazes, with Miko's becoming increasingly hostile. To be honest with herself, Ei hadn't seen Yae like this in eons. It chilled her to the core, albeit only slightly.

"What on Teyvat did you do to Aether, Ei?"

"What did I do, you say? Where are these false accusations coming from, Miko? I dare say, you're acting rather unusual today." Ei said, smugly.

"Don't play coy with me, woman. I know you trapped him here, Ei."

"Oh?" Ei chuckled softly. "Who was the little birdie, so to speak, that informed you of such a thing, hm?"

"And why would you need to know that, exactly?"

"Oh… no reason, really. Just knowing who to silence, is all. I have a general idea of who it was, though." Miko grimaced and clutched her fists, while Ei merely stared and sighed. "Relax, Miko. I could never hurt a friend of Aether's."

"Then tell me this: What did you do to him, Ei?"

"Oh, me? I merely loved him, Miko. Is that so surprising?"

"What kind of love would reduce a man to one that barely speaks and is repulsed by touch?"

"Eternal love, I suppose. A hundred or so years of me loving him had that effect, maybe. I did not know it would have that much of an effect, however." It hit Yae as to what she meant by what she had just muttered, and pure unbounded rage boiled up inside of her. Ei expected this result, staying in her meditative position in preparation for the incoming tornado of fury.

"You sadistic freak." Yae Miko growled.

A/N: New chapter, finally. Friendships are fragmenting as Aether begins to devise his grand vengeance plan. Eula would be proud. Sorry for the no fight scene, they look at me funny whenever I try and write them.

-nbcman67