What's Left After It Rains

by amukWrites

The sword was all that was left of Durin's desires. Albedo was all that remained of his master's wishes. Old Mondstadt survived, despite the destruction it had faced. Something, big or small, always remained. And if that was the case, what would stay behind after he disappeared? If Albedo was his master's lingering will, then what was his lingering will?

Title: What's Left After It Rains

A/N: For the Fraction of Light zine! I wrote this shortly after the Chalk Prince event, so yay for now-ancient lore references! I was originally going to have this be about Xiao and Albedo discussing Karma and Death and instead it became about legacies XD Albedo would grapple with this a lot, but since he's so private…he wouldn't really share these fears with anyone.

Summary: The sword was all that was left of Durin's desires. Albedo was all that remained of his master's wishes. Old Mondstadt survived, despite the destruction it had faced.

Something, big or small, always remained. And if that was the case, what would stay behind after he disappeared? If Albedo was his master's lingering will, then what was his lingering will?

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Albedo was certain of one thing as he followed Aether through meandering country roads and rocky mountain paths: Liyue had changed little in the past few centuries. There was still this idyllic atmosphere in the small tea shops that dotted the landscape, this sensation that time had frozen here. For all of the changes he had heard of in the busy capital, the countryside was still a peaceful place that went at its own pace.

Which was why if it weren't for Aether's exhausted descriptions of strange earth dragons, Albedo would never have returned. He had already gone through the country with his master, already finished recording the strange shields the hilichurls here carried, the odd ways they had adapted to the Geo Archon's influence.

Albedo paused at that thought. The Geo Archon's influence.

Unlike Mondstadt, where the Anemo Archon barely touched the people and monsters living there, Liyue was filled with Rex Lapis's fingerprints. Perhaps that was the reason for the earth dragons? A new adaptation, or an older—

"Let's take a break!" Aether grabbed his hand firmly, jolting Albedo out of his thoughts. With bright eyes and a brighter smile, he gestured at the sky-high building in front of them. "It's a really nice inn. The owner's cool. The place is only semi-haunted."

"Should you really be bringing that up?" Paimon shivered, looking around fearfully. "What if you wake up that little girl again?"

"It should be fine. I think." Aether pursed his lips, staring thoughtfully at the building before shaking his head. "Yeah, we'll be fine. We're just eating, right?"

"The snacks here are great!" Paimon chirped, pumping her fists and shaking her hips as she danced excitedly. It was fascinating how quickly she jumped from emotion to emotion. "Paimon wants everything."

Aether sighed affectionately, giving her a look. "You're always so greedy."

"How rude!" she scowled, glaring ineffectively. Maybe it was her size. "Paimon is not greedy."

Aether laughed. In the afternoon light, his long hair glinted like ripe wheat, like gold, like fire. In all honesty, Albedo might have come here even if there weren't any dragons. These days, he found it harder and harder to say no to Aether.

These days, the sight in front of him was often more than enough to capture his interest.

It was an odd feeling. He'd have to investigate it later.

"Anyways, let's go in." Aether didn't let go of Albedo's hand as he pulled him toward the inn.

Albedo hadn't seen a building that tall before—it could rival a mountain on its own. Architecture had never been a discipline of his—too stuffy, too static—but he might have been interested if it had been more about the towering structure before him. The top seemed to brush Celestia and the gods' domain.

As though sensing his interest, Aether led him farther in instead of stopping by the many tables on the large wooden patio around the inn. The elevator ride up gave him an obstructed view of their surroundings—a marshland full of hilichurls, distant dust from dragons rolling through the dried earth, and even farther, the tell-tale smoke of a ruin guard's missile. There were ruins here, older than himself, perhaps older than his master.

Would the truth of the world be buried there? Hidden in a secret crevice, untouched by man, was it just waiting for him to dig it out?

If he searched, would he finally find the answer he was looking for?

Aether tugged him forward again. Ever since he'd met the traveller, Aether always moved forward, as though staying still would kill him. Maybe it would. Albedo had never tested that theory.

"Why are we at the top?" Paimon complained as they stepped onto the sunny terrace. There was no one up here but them. She crossed her arms and stomped her foot on the air. "Paimon's hungry!"

"You're always hungry," Aether replied dryly, turning away from the railing. "Just a little longer, okay?" He turned back to Albedo. "So, what do you think?"

"We have a lot of ground to cover," Albedo mused as he eyed the terrain spread out before him like one of Klee's quilts. If Mondstadt was a line of rolling hills and fields, then Liyue was the country of deep valleys and even taller mountains. "The hilichurl settlements here have advanced in unexpected ways. You said we can enter the adepti's lands?"

"Somehow I knew you'd think that." Aether chuckled wryly. "We can go after lunch."

There was a soft whoosh, the displacement of air, and Albedo's hand was on his hilt just as a blade pressed against his neck. Aether jumped back. There was a strange grace to the way he slid into a stance, to the way he reached for his sword. His hair coiled around him like a whip.

"Woah! What's going on!" Paimon shouted.

Albedo slowly looked over his shoulder, following the blade down to the polearm's other end to find a short, green-haired boy scrutinizing him. Despite the blade at his neck, the boy didn't feel entirely hostile. If anything, he felt more perplexed than anything. The stranger's brow furrowed. "You…"

"Xiao!" Aether sighed with relief. Smiling once more, he reached for the polearm and gently pushed it away, not fearing an attack in the least. "It's okay! He's with me!"

"Why'd you have to scare Paimon like that?" Paimon hovered next to Xiao, pouting. She wagged a finger at him, indignant. "We're in a hotel! It's supposed to be safe!"

Xiao didn't spare her a glance. "Anyplace can be a battleground."

"I don't think Verr would agree to that." Aether scratched his cheek before shaking his head. "Yeah, she wouldn't like it. Still, I'm glad you're here!"

Xiao glanced at Aether. After a few seconds, he huffed and retracted his weapon, though he kept a wary eye on Albedo. "It's not the same. Why are you here?"

"Sucrose wanted Albedo to take a vacation and I accepted the commission." Aether patted Albedo on the shoulder, bouncing on his heels in excitement. "This is Albedo! Albedo, this is Xiao."

That greeting explained nothing. Albedo studied Xiao. There was something off about him, in the same way that Aether was a little off compared to a regular human. Despite their youthful looks, both of their eyes couldn't hide their age, couldn't hide the years they'd witnessed.

He should know—he saw the same eyes in the mirror. "What are you?"

Xiao's frown returned. "What are you?"

"Ugh, why are you both like this?" Paimon hung her head, her arms dangling at her sides. "Paimon thinks they shouldn't have met."

"Don't be like that, it's fine." Unfazed by the tension, Aether quickly stood next to Xiao. "He's Xiao, an adeptus!" He stepped next to Albedo. "And this is Albedo, a researcher."

"More like a mad scientist," Paimon added snidely, snickering at her own joke.

"Mad?" Xiao repeated suspiciously.

"Not like that!" Aether laughed, breaking the tension as usual with his warm presence. He wrapped an arm around Xiao and the other one around Albedo, pulling them close. Their shoulders bumped awkwardly. Albedo leaned away before their heads knocked together. "I never thought you guys would meet! This is great!"

Xiao coloured slightly and he looked away. "Sure."

Interesting. Albedo had seen a similar reaction in himself around Aether. A single incident was an anomaly, two a coincidence, and three a pattern. Maybe he should investigate this matter, now that he had a potential sample size. Was Aether causing this reaction, or was it pure coincidence? Perhaps a third, unknown element that connected them all?

Paimon sighed. Her stomach rumbled and she tugged on Aether's braid. "Let's eat!"

Aether looked up. "But—"

His stomach grumbled too and Paimon rested her hands on her hips triumphantly. "See? You're hungry too."

"It was a long journey," Aether agreed reluctantly, pulling away. He sighed before brightening. "We can eat lunch together, all four of us! I'll get you two something. Almond Tofu and," he turned to Albedo, "a Sunshine Sprat?"

Albedo nodded, a shiver running down his spine now that Aether's warm presence had left.

"Great! Let's go!" Paimon started to float to the stairs. "You think they'll burn the place down while we're gone?"

Aether laughed as he followed. "Probably not."

"Probably?" Paimon shouted.

Albedo watched as his companions disappeared down a flight of steps. Interruptions gone, he returned his gaze to Xiao. "What did you mean earlier?"

Xiao raised his brow but didn't reply. He spoke even less than Diluc. There was something about him that was similar to Venti, but not quite. Was it immortality? Power? Albedo had seen multiple kinds of immortality, none of them the same. Aether smelled of the stars, Venti the wind, and this man of darkness.

Albedo wanted his paints. It was easier to think when he made quick strokes with a brush, his mind unravelling a gorgon's knot of problems onto a blank canvas. "It's not the same," he repeated, his twitching fingers gripping his pants instead. "Did you mean the fact that I'm not human?"

"No." Xiao scanned him head to toe and shook his head. His grip tightened on his polearm. He frowned. "Your presence…it's similar to a demon's."

"A demon's?" Faintly, Albedo remembered hearing about them during his last trip here. A tale of evil gods and the five guardians that vanquished them. It had sounded like a fairy tale, but then again, most of the stories in this world were grounded in some truth.

Xiao didn't clarify. "It's not the same." His frown grew deeper, suspicion leaking into his voice. "Aether smelled like that once—was that you?"

It was easy to guess what Xiao was referring to. Albedo didn't think another could feel the darkness in the sword, the murky hate that resonated in his bones. Aether had been unaffected, but would another immortal have been unable to resist the siren call?

Maybe Sucrose had been right. Maybe it was high time he searched somewhere other than those foreboding mountains.

"Similar, but not the same," Albedo answered, echoing Xiao.

Judging by his scowl, that wasn't the expression the adeptus wanted. He raised his weapon slightly, steel in his voice. "Did you do something to him?"

"If I had, would you be able to stop it?" Albedo asked instead. Durin had taken a dragon and a country down with him, had razed the earth and left behind a scar that hadn't yet faded. For all of Aether's strength, for all of his sister's powers, it would take more to stop Albedo if he did the same.

It would take much more, and Albedo didn't want to ask, didn't want to force it out of Aether. Every experiment required a control, every test a backup. And if Aether was his first specimen, maybe Xiao or the other adepti could be his second.

In all probability, it would take an immortal to stop an immortal.

"Is that a yes?" Xiao growled. A light breeze blew, his clothes fluttering to invisible hands. His grip on his polearm tightened.

"Not quite. It was a sword I gave him." Albedo watched, fascinated, as the wind rose higher before dying out entirely. "Would you be able to destroy it?"

Despite calming down, Xiao didn't lower his weapon. "Maybe."

That wasn't a conclusive answer. He pressed harder. "Maybe?"

"That presence…Your presence, it is similar to a demon's." His eyes grew colder. "And even to the very last remnant, I will destroy a demon."

"Remnant…" In all honesty, that word fit him and that sword better than a demon. A remnant. The lingering will of his mentor. Durin's bones had jutted out of the earth, his blood dotted the mountain, his hate filled the soil. Was that what his master had wanted? Destruction? Rage?

He wished he could say no. He wished he could say yes. Instead, he was left with this uncertainty that gnawed at him deeper than any chill.

Albedo lowered his gaze to his hands. "It would be best if nothing was left at all."

If, like the chalk after it rains, he just washed away entirely.

Xiao snorted. "There's always something left."

He jerked his head up, not expecting that response. "Something?"

"Karma. Good or bad, that always remains." Xiao turned to the staircase. "A god's hatred. Regret. The memories they didn't want erased. Something always remains, lingering until time finally cleanses it."

Something remaining, something stuck behind—Albedo gripped his shirt. It was a truth he couldn't reject. The sword was all that was left of Durin's desires. Albedo was all that remained of his master's wishes. Old Mondstadt survived, despite the destruction it had faced.

Something, big or small, always remained. And if that was the case, what would stay behind after he disappeared? If Albedo was his master's lingering will, then what was his lingering will?

His art? His research?

Aether's golden head popped up as he climbed the stairs, his expression apologetic. His arms carefully balanced three plates, his steps steady to avoid a disastrous crash. "Sorry for the wait!"

Xiao shot Albedo one last suspicious look before turning back to Aether. His polearm disappeared as he carefully picked up the plate of Almond Tofu. "That took a while." His expression was soft despite his reprimand.

Aether laughed sheepishly, scuffing his shoe on the ground. "Sorry, Paimon kept asking for more."

"Hey! Paimon's hungwy!" Paimon mumbled between a mouthful of kebab.

"Yes, yes." Aether turned to Albedo and held out a plate. The fish on it looked perfectly cooked. He smiled brightly. "I saved yours from her."

Transfixed, Albedo stared at Aether's smile. It was funny how something that simple could dissipate his fears. How a single look could calm him. It was hard to fear an unknown future when he knew Aether was by his side.

"Albedo?" Aether cocked his head.

Albedo smiled back. Aether's smile always had a way of drawing out his own. There was something hopeful in Aether's expression that Albedo responded to, despite himself. He stepped forward to take the plate. "Thanks."

There was reason to hope. Perhaps his master had intended for Albedo to do, to be good. Maybe he wouldn't rampage like Durin. And maybe, Albedo would find that truth of the world, and that would set him free.

Yet, even if it didn't, even if the worst came to pass, there were options. Aether was strong. Xiao was confident. One way or another, Albedo's destruction would stop by their hands. He would disappear, with barely a trace.

And that trace—if he had to leave something behind, if something had to linger like a faint line of chalk after the storm, then let it be this. Not a cursed sword. Not his many paintings and theories and research notes. Not even the truth of the world.

No, let it just be this smile that only Aether could draw out.

This single, hopeful smile.