Chapter Text
“…And that’s how I ended up here – at least, from what I can remember.”
The traveler scratched out a final image in the sand, discarding the piece of driftwood he used to create it. He stared sadly at it until a chirpy voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
“Wow, you picked up on the language fast! Paimon can’t believe how well you speak it now.”
He laughed. “Well, it helps when you have a very good teacher.”
Paimon beamed from the compliment. “Hehe, it was nothing. Anyway, in exchange for saving Paimon those months ago, Paimon promises to be the very best guide and help you find your sister!”
He looked up in surprise. “You’d do that?”
The white-clad fairy smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! You should have someone to show you around Teyvat while you travel, and it’s not like Paimon has anything better to do! So, what do you say, Traveler?”
He hesitated a moment, then smiled. “Well, if you’re sure, I could really use a guide. Oh -and you can call me Aether.”
“Heyyy, why didn’t you say so earlier?! Paimon’s been calling you Traveler this whole time!”
Shrugging sheepishly, he responded, “well, I didn’t know how to ask before.”
Paimon rolled her eyes. “Sure you didn’t.” She spun in the air out of habit, briefly leaving behind a small trail of constellation-like particles. “So, where should we start?”
Aether paused. “Um… I don’t know. Is there anyone we can talk to? Anyone that would know who that lady was?”
Paimon took on a look of deep thought. “It’s a long shot, but maybe with the Seven? It sounds like this cube lady was pretty powerful, so the archons would probably know who she is! The hard part is going to be finding a way to talk to them.”
“Archons?”
“Yeah! They’re the gods of this world, with each one presiding over their own nation. Mondstadt is the closest city to here, but nobody has seen their archon, Barbatos, in ages.”
“Gods? I can’t just walk up to a god and have a friendly conversation with them! Please say you have a better idea that isn’t going to get me killed.”
“The archons wouldn’t kill you, silly. A lot of them are really close to their people and would be happy to help! Just trust Paimon on this one.”
He sighed. “It’s worth a shot, I guess. Even if this city doesn’t have a god, it’s a good idea to grab some supplies anyway.”
Paimon twirled in the air, floating towards the forest. “Then let’s go!”
Aether stood up, wincing slightly as his stiff legs were put to work. A short walk later, the duo arrived at a tall cliff. Paimon pointed excitedly at a structure in the distance: a walled-in city built on a large island in the middle of a lake. Windmills and the red rooftops of buildings were visible from where they stood. “That’s Mondstadt! Not too far now!” Paimon exclaimed. “And look! A Statue of the Seven! Come on, let’s go visit it!” She darted down the path, leaving Aether to run behind her.
After getting slightly soaked from the lake surrounding it, Aether walked up to the statue. It didn’t look all that special – just a regular carving from stone. The figure depicted on the pedestal was winged, holding an orb in both hands, with two braids spilling out from the hood/cloak combo they were wearing. “It’s said that the statues sometimes give their blessings to weary travelers,” Paimon informed him. “It doesn’t look all that special to Paimon, though.”
Weirdly, Aether felt some kind of strange pull, as though the statue were trying to draw him in. “I wonder if…” Trailing off, he mindlessly placed his hand on the golden plate on the front of the statue. A sudden jolt shot up his arm, and he quickly pulled it back as teal streaks of wind emanated from where his hand had just been resting.
“Woah! Next time, tell Paimon before you’re about to do something crazy!” The fairy exclaimed, floating down to look at him. “Do you feel okay? What happened?”
“I feel fine,” Aether said, shaking out his arm. “Just felt a little weird, that’s all. It was probably nothing.”
“Nothing!? The statue glowed and everything! Something must have happened!”
Aether pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling an oncoming headache. Weird. I never get headaches. He chalked it up to Paimon screaming in his ear about being reckless and snapped out of his thoughts. “Please, Paimon, don’t worry. I’ll be okay. Let’s just keep walking before it gets too dark,” he insisted, forcing a small smile.
Paimon frowned, clearly still worried. “Well, okay, but tell Paimon if you need to sit down and take a break.” Her expression suddenly changed to one of fear and shock. “Tra- Aether! Behind you! Pyro slimes!”
He spun around to see a few blobby creatures bouncing towards him. They looked like they were made out of lava. Well, good thing this statue is surrounded by water, he thought. Drawing his sword out of the air in a flash of golden particles, he motioned for Paimon to get behind him and swung as the first of the three creatures jumped at him. Shink. His blade connected with the unexpectedly solid monster, knocking it back. As the remaining two compressed, undoubtedly preparing to leap at him, his headache flared up, sending splitting pain through his head and causing him to drop his sword and fall to his knees.
“Aether!”
Paimon’s voice sounded distant. He opened his eyes with great effort and saw the slimes leap at her.
No.
Impulsively, he flung up his arm, as though that would stop anything from happening. Surprisingly, it did. A burst of wind exploded from the palm of his hand, sending all the monsters flying into shallow water, where they vaporized instantly. His headache immediately subsided, the pent-up overload of elemental energy no longer taking its toll. In shock, he stood up and turned to Paimon, wide-eyed. The expression on her face mirrored his own.
“Did you just do that?” She gasped.
“I think so,” he confirmed.
“Archons above! You can use elemental energy without a vision! Is that because you touched the statue?”
Aether looked more shocked than before, which was a feat. “W-wait, is this not normal?”
Paimon shook her head. “From what Paimon knows, the only way someone can use the elemental powers of the gods is by obtaining a vision from one of them – and Paimon doesn’t see one on you anywhere. And you couldn’t do that before, right?”
“No, I couldn’t. It must have been to do with that statue.”
“But the statues don’t normally do that! Is it because you’re not from Teyvat? Even so, Paimon doesn’t see how that would change anything, but…”
Her rambling faded as Aether sunk into his thoughts. Uh oh. Did I do something wrong? Was there a rule about not touching sacred statues or something? Am I cursed? Gods, this is the last thing I need right now…
“Hey, what’s going on? You’re spacing out again!”
Aether shook his head. “Sorry, I must just be tired.”
Paimon’s face softened. “Yeah, elemental energy can be a lot. Let’s just get to Mondstadt as soon as we can and then we can eat lots of yummy food and have a long sleep!”
He smiled. “Alright, let’s go.”
They continued walking, Aether lost in thought. He barely noticed that the trees were getting denser or heard Paimon’s monologue about how good Mondstadt food was – until a loud roar sent every inch of his body into high alert.
“What was that?” Paimon asked.
“I don’t know, I was hoping you did,” Aether said worriedly, stopping and drawing his weapon.
The roar sounded again. “It came from up ahead. We should go look.”
“Go look! Are you crazy!? Whatever it is will eat Paimon whole!”
Aether sighed. “Well, then you can stay here. I’m going ahead.” He started cautiously walking towards the noise, with Paimon nervously floating behind, too scared to be left alone. He ducked behind a tree and peered around it as they reached a small clearing, his eyes widening in disbelief.
A large teal dragon was perched on a rock, with a boy dressed in green reaching his hand out towards it. His dark hair was braided into two strands that fell on either side of his face, and he had a rather small build. Aether strained to hear the exchange between them. “Please, Dvalin. I know you’re scared, but just trust me,” the boy pleaded in a voice that was oddly melodious. “Calm down and let’s talk.”
“Is that a dragon!?” Paimon whisper-yelled in Aether’s ear.
“Looks like it,” he muttered in response. The dragon growled in the distance. Unprompted, a streak of teal wind flew around him, catching the dragon’s attention, and he quickly pressed himself behind the tree.
The dragon roared and began to lift off, the green boy spinning around to scan the area. “Who’s there?” He yelled, his eyes darting across the trees just in time to spot a flash of gold and white. Frowning, he glanced back up at the sky, where the dragon had now gone, before disappearing himself with a burst of wind. In the residual silence, Aether and Paimon emerged from their hiding spot. There was no trace of the odd pair that had just been there aside from a red crystal that was hovering just above the ground.
“What’s that?” Aether asked, walking over to it.
“Paimon isn’t sure, but if that dragon left it, it’s probably dangerous! We should take it with us so nobody will get hurt.”
Aether nodded in agreement and pocketed the tear-shaped gem. With the excitement of the moment over, the gravity of their situation descended on them.
“Do you think he saw us?” Paimon whispered nervously.
“I think he did,” Aether responded, a pit forming in his stomach. The last thing he needed was to make enemies with a dragon and whoever its caretaker was.
Paimon glanced at him, noticing the concern present on his face. “Hey, we don’t have to go to Mondstadt if you don’t want to – Paimon didn’t realize there would be scary dragons flying all over the place! Besides, their archon might not even exist!”
Aether hesitated, but only momentarily. “No, we should go. It’s still possible that someone there might know where Lumine is.”
“Okay. Let’s keep moving!”
Paimon gave him a cheery look and started floating towards the path, rambling again. “Wow, it’s been an eventful day for Paimon! First, you finally speak, then the scary slimes, and now big dragons and mysterious dragon friends! Traveling with you is going to be a lot of fun!” Paimon remarked, clearly thrilled. Aether smiled, glad that he wasn’t alone in this world.
It didn’t take long before they had another encounter – this time, with a sweet girl named Amber. She claimed to be the Outrider for the Knights of Favonius, whatever that meant, and Aether explained his situation to her. After dealing with some monsters, the newly formed trio made their way to the city, where she had a gift waiting.
“Hey, Traveler, you should take this!” Amber smiled, handing him a weird piece of cloth.
“Oh, thanks! Um… what is it?”
She laughed. “It’s a Wind Glider! It’ll let you glide through the air if you deploy it where there’s sufficient air resistance! Just a little present for helping me with those monsters - you’ve got some serious skill!”
Aether smiled. “Thank you, Amber. How do I use it?”
“Hmm… well, we could have a test flight right now! Here, hold it like this… perfect! I’ll jump off that railing and demonstrate, then you follow me, okay?”
“Okay,” Aether agreed uncertainly. Amber jumped, making the whole process look quite easy. Before he could get up the nerve to throw himself over a drop, however, a roar sounded, and he and Paimon spun around in fear. The dragon had returned.
Dark clouds descended swiftly over Mondstadt, and vortexes of wind tore their way through the city, one such vortex catching Aether’s deployed glider and sending him flying upwards.
“Aether!” He heard Paimon call out before he was tossed too high into the air to hear her anymore.
Please be safe, he thought as he went higher and higher up. Hold on, this doesn’t seem right. Why am I still traveling upwards?
I’m preventing your fall with the power of a thousand winds, a voice in his head responded. Now, harness the energy provided to you and aim for Dvalin – he can bear a few hits, but the city cannot.
Without any other option, Aether did as instructed, soon landing back on the ground to face a worried Paimon, who strangled him with a hug. Amber came running up at the same moment.
“Archons, how did you scare off Stormterror!? Are you hurt?” She asked.
“I’m okay, don’t worry. It was all thanks to your glider,” he reassured. And that weird voice. “Paimon, you can let go of me now – the dragon’s gone.”
“Well, well. That was quite a display. So, what kind of mysterious, heroic outlander has Mondstadt been graced with in the midst of our crisis?” A new voice chimed in.
A tall man wearing an eyepatch walked towards them with a curious smile. “Kaeya. Knight of Favonius. I see you’ve already met Amber.”
Amber looked relieved. “Oh, Kaeya, you’re here! This is Aether, a traveler – you should take him to see Jean.” She turned to Aether and explained, “she’s our Acting Grand Master. If you need to find someone, she’s who to talk to!”
“I was already planning on it,” Kaeya said, still smiling.
A long set of introductions and explanations later, Aether had become well acquainted with the higher-ups of the Knights, who unfortunately had no information about a girl wearing white with short blonde hair. The Acting Grand Master also made it clear that they were in no position to set out search parties or exert energy looking for Lumine in the middle of a national crisis. Fair enough. So long as he helped resolve the issue, he would be one step closer to finding her. A small positive, though, was that it looked like his uniqueness was viewed as a strength, not an oddity that was going to make it clear he wasn’t from Teyvat. Of course, that could always change. It certainly didn’t help his case that Paimon had made him bring out that weird crystal they found and had Lisa inspect it.
“Sorry, but I can’t seem to determine anything about it. Just holding the crystal makes me feel dizzy,” Lisa commented, handing it back to him.
“That’s okay – thanks for your help anyway!” Paimon responded, smiling.
Jean stood up from where she was leaning against the bookshelf, watching them cautiously. “Well, Traveler, as our new Honorary Knight, I’ll leave it up to you to investigate the Stormterror issue at your own leisure. Please report back if you come across any information you believe would be valuable or if any questions arise. The Knights are indebted to you.”
Aether nodded in acknowledgement and took his leave.
“So, where are we headed now?” Paimon asked, floating alongside him as they wandered through the lamplit streets of Mondstadt.
“We need to find that guy we saw in the forest,” Aether replied. “I have a feeling he knows what this crystal is, and it’s really our only lead to helping the Knights at the moment.”
Paimon nodded enthusiastically. “Sounds like a plan! But how are we gonna find him?”
Aether sighed. “I have no idea.”
“Well, we can keep walking and think! We’re almost at the plaza with the statue of the Anemo Archon – seems like a good place to brainstorm to Paimon!”
“Sounds like you just want to go sightseeing,” he joked. “But… maybe we can use these new powers I have? You know more about them than I do, probably. Does wind have, I don’t know, track-mysterious-green-people-down abilities?”
Paimon frowned as they climbed the last steps up to the plaza. “Not that Paimon knows of, but maybe…” she trailed off as her gaze settled upon the statue. Or rather, the person beneath it.
Aether stared in shock at the performing bard who was, unmistakably, the weird guy they’d come across talking to the dragon before. “Maybe we won’t need to figure something out after all.”
“…Or that.”
The two weaved their way through the small crowd that had gathered around the musician, with Aether vaguely catching the story about a poisoned dragon and its immense sorrows that engulfed it. It didn’t take a genius to realize he was singing about Stormterror.
This guy definitely knows something about the dragon. Why hasn’t he gone to the Knights? And why did he run off in the forest? Actually, why are we even talking to him? He’s likely not trustworthy, and I don’t particularly want to get involved with a troublemaker.
Well, trustworthy or not, I guess there’s no other option.
As his song drew to a close, the crowd applauded and the green-clad bard opened his eyes, smiling and taking a bow. Aether stood, arms crossed, watching his every move intently. Once the crowd had more or less dissipated, the bard made his way over to the duo, who hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“I see you enjoyed my tale. You must be the Honorary Knight everyone’s been talking about, hehe. What a pleasure to finally meet you,” he said, a cheeky grin on his face.
“That would be me,” Aether responded warily, waiting for any indication that the bard recognized them from the encounter in the woods. When no confrontation came, he extended a hand and introduced himself. “Aether. I’m just traveling through here. And this is Paimon,” he said, gesturing to where she was floating nervously behind him.
“Aether, hm? A name fitting for a traveler such as yourself – it would sound very elegant in a ballad. Maybe someone will write one about you someday,” he commented, still smiling. “I’m Venti, a local bard. I suppose I have you to thank for scaring off Dvalin earlier?”
A jolt of surprise and fear shot up Aether’s spine. “Um. Yeah. That was us. Sorry about that.” Crap. He recognized you. Good going, Aether. Now the dragon is really going to want to kill you.
Venti noticed the sudden shift in his demeanor and quickly clarified, “of course, it was no fault of yours that he was startled back there. Dvalin has been on edge of late… I grow worried for his fate.”
Aether relaxed the tiniest amount, uncertain if the additional comment was a ploy to gain his trust or genuine forgiveness. Not that it mattered either way: he needed to show him the crystal.
“Oh, that’s a relief. Well, not to say that Stormterror’s decline is good, I’m just glad we didn’t mess anything up,” Aether stammered. “Wait, actually, we think he may have left something behind. Could you take a look at this for a moment?”
He pulled out the crystal, nearly dropping it out of surprise when he saw that it had turned from a deep shade of crimson to a bright teal.
“Whoa! When did that happen?” Paimon exclaimed. “That was all red and evil ten minutes ago, right?”
Venti frowned. “It’s been… purified. Dvalin’s tears are full of his sorrow and rage, but this one is devoid of such corruption.” He looked up at Aether. “You purified it? How?”
“I-I don’t know. I’m just as surprised as you are.” Aether responded.
Venti studied the crystal for a moment, then produced one of his own. “I found a similar tear earlier. Would you be able to cleanse this one as well?” He asked, holding it out to Aether.
“I can try, but no promises.” Aether took the crystal, closing his eyes as he concentrated. His brow furrowed as he focused on the unpleasant, corroding feeling the crystal generated, imagining that feeling being washed away like clean water removes filth. Once he could no longer feel the prickliness from the tear, he opened his eyes to see a pristine teal gem, identical to the last one. I can’t believe that actually worked.
“Wha- Paimon can’t believe it! You’re magic!”
“Indeed, it is extraordinary,” Venti agreed. He took the crystal from Aether’s palm, pocketing it with the other one before looking at him with a wide smile that didn’t match the pensive look in his eyes. “Hm… meet me at the symbol of Mondstadt’s hero, and we can discuss how to remedy the blight Dvalin has brought upon the city. I may have a plan, hehe~”
With that, the bard gave them a cheeky wave and dashed down the nearby stairs, leaving behind a fuming Paimon and a perplexed Aether.
“Gah, Paimon hates that guy already! Why does he have to be so vague and annoying!”
Aether stared after him. “I don’t know, but he knows more about this crisis than an ordinary person. So, sorry, but you’ll have to put up with him for a while longer while this gets resolved.”
Paimon pouted. “Fine, Paimon guesses she can deal with it. Should we go meet him now?”
“No, let’s head into the city and buy some supplies first.”
“Ooooh, can we get dinner while we’re there? Paimon’s hungry!”
“You’re always hungry,” laughed the traveler. “But fine, yes, we can get dinner.”
“Yay! You’re the best travel companion ever!”