Chapter Text
Aether took a moment to cherish the warm afternoon air Mondstadt always had to offer. It felt like a gentle welcome home- of course, Mondstadt wasn’t technically his home, Teyvat wasn’t even his home, but the faces were friendly and the people were always happy to see him. He had always been welcome in Mondstadt, a far cry from his tumultuous time in Inazuma.
He found himself crouched in front of Valberry bush, carefully inspecting each fruit before placing it in his bag or holding it above his head for Paimon to snack on. While the berries grew in clusters, half of them were likely to be under (or over) ripe. When fresh, the berries were delightfully sweet, but at any other stage, they were practically inedible.
A sudden chill ran down his back, making him stand up in a jolt. It was a sensation he had come to find familiar, the incoming presence of a certain adepti. Aether spotted the elemental energy manifesting in the corner of his eye.
“You’re a bit far from home, aren’t you, Xiao?” Aether chided as he turned to meet his visitor, “What brings you out to-”
Aether’s casual greeting was cut short when he actually came face to face with Xiao.
The adepti was pale, his slim face caked in grime and teeth grit. He was barely standing on shaking legs, hugging his torso. Cuts glistening with dark blue blood littered his arms, dirt sticking on the wounds. He clenched a gaping wound across his chest, blood spilling between his fingers and leaking down his arms.
“Xiao?!” Paimon squeaked, fearfully retreating behind Aether’s shoulder.
“Fuck, Xiao, what happened to you?” Aether cried, dropping his bag on the ground in horror.
Between labored gasps, Xiao tried to speak, his wild, but clouded eyes meeting Aether’s. His lips struggled to form a word, before his eyes rolled back into his skull and he slumped forward.
Aether fumbled to catch him, the boy’s head falling against his shoulder. His skin was clammy, and slick with blood.
Aether carefully lowered him to the ground, hands shaking as he assessed the situation.
“Paimon,” he said sharply.
“Yes?” she said, lip trembling.
“Get to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, right now. Use the waypoint. Let Jean know we’re coming, and to have Barbara ready.”
Wordlessly, Paimon nodded, the silky fabric of her romper clenched in her hands. In a flash, she vanished, and Aether was alone.
With Xiao.
Xiao didn’t speak as Aether tore strips of fabric off his cape, wrapping them tightly around the wound on his torso in an attempt to slow the blood loss.
Why me? Aether thought as he stared down at Xiao’s fragile form, Why didn’t he seek out Zhongli, or another adeptus?
For a moment, Aether allowed himself to take a steadying breath, in the midst of wiping sweat from Xiao’s face. His hands lingered, cupping Xiao’s cheek. Weakly, Xiao groped for Aether’s arm, trembling fingers brushing against his wrist. He tried to speak again, bloody froth dribbling from his mouth.
Aether snapped back to reality, securing an arm behind Xiao’s back and legs as he heaved him off the ground.
Whatever the reason, Xiao had come to him for help. And he didn’t intend on letting him down.
—
Barbara’s heels clicked across the marble floors of the Knights of Favonius’s headquarters, her steps muffled by the boots of the knights around her. Jean had suddenly pulled her from her duties at the Church of Favonius, citing an emergency. It was rare to see her flustered, but Barbara had known her long enough to spot when she was distressed.
Escorted by Jean and a few of her knights, Barbara was brought into the Headquarter’s infirmary. Immediately the metallic scent of blood hit her nose, muddled with an oppressive wave of elemental energy. At her hip, her vision tingled. She had only felt something similar to this once before, when Stormterror- no, Dvalin- had wrecked havoc upon Mondstadt, and she had been in the presence of the beast himself.
Aether stood in the center of the room, his normally angelic attire stained across the front with dark blue splotches.
“Barbara, please, Xiao needs your help-”
Barbara’s eyes finally fell upon the youth behind Aether, strewn across one of the infirmary’s beds.
Barbara certainly wasn’t a stranger to grievous injury, as the Knights of Favonius’s (and perhaps the entire city of Mondstadt’s) go-to healer. She had seen the worst results of encounters with Hilichurls, ambushes by treasure hoarders, and even scraps with the odd Abyss Mage.
But this…this was something different.
The boy’s body was mangled, jagged claw marks running down the length of his torso. It became clear that the blue fluid that had been on Aether was his blood, and, by the Anemo Archon, was there so much of it. She hadn’t even been sure he was breathing until he coughed wetly, making Barbara wince as she heard the obvious blood pooling into his lungs.
Her mind raced- the injuries look consistent with animal attack, but she couldn’t imagine what kind of animal could do this. Certainly not one native to Mondstadt.
Taking a closer look at his chest, Barbara blanched. The edges of exposed flesh had taken on a sickly green hue, almost gangrenous. She couldn’t fathom how an injury this fresh looked like it had been festering for weeks.
Barbara’s body began moving before she consciously willed herself to, instinct taking over as started to attend to the boy’s wounds. There was no time to think. If she hesitated any longer her new patient would be dead.
Humming a soft tune under her breath, her vision activated, cool water flowing between her fingers. She moved her hands over his chest, feeling the wounds throb with a feverish heat under her touch. It took her but a moment to get a feel for the extend of his injuries- sensing the damaged organs and broken ribs. This definitely wasn’t going to be easy. Her first priority was stopping the bleeding.
“Huffman,” Barbara’s tone had lost it’s airy, sing-song quality, now cold and clinical, “I need towels, now. Raymond, Miles, go fetch a basin of clean water. And someone get Albedo in here- he has a steadier hand for stitches.”
The knights stood in place, swapping bewildered glances at each other, and then at their Acting Grandmaster, Jean.
“You heard her!” Jean snapped, jolting the knights into action, “In this room, Barbara is your commander!”
The room bustled with activity, with cabinets being thrown open and searched for materials, and Barbara barking orders at knights that were unprepared to see this level of bloodshed. Barbara began pressing a cloth into the biggest of the wounds, gritting her teeth as blood pulsed from the gash with every frantic beat of the boy’s heart.
Aether slipped into work beside her, dabbing at Xiao’s forehead with a wet cloth, trying to nurse a head wound that she hadn’t immediately noticed.
A concussion too? Barbara thought, already feeling sweat pool in the collar of her dress. What in Barbatos’ name happened to this boy?
Peeling away another blood-soaked towel and casting it aside, Barbara exhaled a short breath through her nose. The blood showed no intention of clotting.
“Aether, what happened here? These wounds are severe.” That was an understatement.
Despite the stains on his clothes, Aether seemed unharmed. “I- I have no idea. He just appeared like this in front of me.”
She readied her hands again, the Hydro energy circling her fingers sparkling with prismatic light. Traditional medical techniques wouldn’t cut it, she had to rely on the blessing of the gods. Easing it in like a massage, Barbara let her waters seep into the wound, expecting to see at least of a speck of the normal relief that her healing brought her patients.
Instead, she felt Xiao’s body jerk violently, as if Barbara had plunged hot iron into his chest. The air in the room became heavy, the same dread she had felt when she entered reaching a climax. The sudden wave of elemental energy interrupted her concentration, her water losing its luster and form.
The boy’s hand shot out, wrapping around Barbara’s wrist in a death grip. His cracked lips began to move, the low grumble in his chest becoming a weak voice.
“Get…Get-”
Aether froze from his position by Xiao’s head, watching as he lurched towards Barbara, baring wicked fangs.
“Get your hands off me!” Xiao roared.
————
“Fuck,” Aether rasped as he sprang into action, trying to pin down Xiao by roping his arms around his torso. For a moment he worried about putting additional stress on his injuries, but the potential injuries Xiao could inflict on Barbara far outweighed that possibility.
Out of the corner of his eye, Aether saw Jean begin to draw her sword.
“Wait!” he cried, “He’s just disoriented! Help me hold him down!”
She sheathed her sword with pursed lips, stepping forward. Jean’s larger frame overshadowed Xiao, wrenching his hands away from Barbara’s dress, freeing her sister.
“Xiao, Xiao, I need you to listen to me-” Aether said into Xiao’s ear, muscles straining as he tried to keep the boy’s back flush with the examination table.
Xiao’s eyes were foggy, frantically darting across the room but unable to process anything besides blurry shapes and loud noises.
“Don’t touch me,” Xiao spat, but the venom in his voice was dampened by his trembling lips. “Get away from me!”
Instinctively, Aether almost loosened his grip, but he resisted. The situation was still far too volatile. All he could do was hug Xiao tighter, feeling his frantic pulse against his skin.
“Clear the way!” Barbara’s voice cut in, as the girl appeared at Aether’s right, holding a syringe. A blueish hued liquid sloshed in the barrel, hints of elemental energy just present enough for Aether to sense. He recognized it as Albedo’s handiwork.
Xiao let out a wet gasp as Barbara plunged the needle into the muscle of his upper arm, and the alchemic concoction seemed to take effect immediately. Eyelids drooping, Xiao became weak against the combined pressure of Jean and Aether, slumping against the bed.
“Don’t…” Xiao slurred, “Don’t touch me...”
Silence. Everyone in the room seemed to be holding their breath.
Huffman broke the tension.
“Miss Barbara! Your arm!”
Thin cuts from Xiao’s nails trailed down her arm, scarlet blood staining the white sleeves of her dress. Barbara shook her head as she put down the syringe.
“It’s nothing serious. I have a patient to tend to.”