Chapter Text
Two months have passed since Aether landed in the world known as Teyvat. Along his travels he arrived at the city of Mondstadt with Paimon by his side. He met a girl named Amber who helped him register with the adventurer's guild. Aether needed a way to make mora to help pay for food and other expenses along the way. After a couple weeks of helping the people of Mondstadt with jobs around the city, Aether knew he needed to press on and search for more clues about his missing relative. So Aether decided to set off to the city called Liyue Harbor to pick up some commissions from the guild there. He also wanted to talk to a man named Zhongli who could possibly help him with the answers he seeks.
Before Aether set off on his journey, Amber and the others mentioned that there was an Inn that Aether could spend the night at and rest without the fear of being ambushed by monsters or treasure hoarders in the area. Traveling from Mondstadt to Liyue Harbor was about a days journey and traveling at night was very dangerous and he was going alone with no back up. After a bit of arguing back and forth, Aether reassured the others that he would be careful along the way and do his best to stay out of trouble, he wanted to make the trip to Liyue on his own and didn't want to bother the others seeing as they were very busy with other tasks. Amber wrote down the name of the inn and marked it on the map, the Inn's name was Wangshu Inn and that he couldn't miss it seeing as the inn was very unique to the area.
Aether soon set off down the dirt path. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder at the city of freedom. Aether smiled, promising himself that he would return. He turned on his heels and continued down the path. Several hours passed, and Mondstadt was no longer visible. Aether had covered quite the distance in a short amount of time. Aether came across couple villages along the way. He even stopped to eat at one and rest before he set out again. After talking with some the villagers, they reassured him that he was still on the right path and that the inn he mentioned to them wasn't very far.
"Hmm...if I'm reading this map right...and from what those villagers told me. The inn should be just over that hill." Aether spoke to himself. He stood up from the rock where he was sitting, folded the map up and resumed walking.
Aether reached the hill and made it over the top. There he could see the huge tree in the distance. The sight before him was amazing. He could see buildings built right into the trunk of the tree as it loomed overhead. The leaves were not colored green but instead colored in reds and oranges throughout the branches. As Aether got closer he could see that night was approaching fast, the sun was starting to disappear behind the mountains, so he picked up speed and made his way to the inn.
Aether finally reached the tree and made his way up the stairs to the elevator, as he entered the platform a bell rang signaling that the elevator was ascending. As the platform was lifting him into the air, Aether was lost in his thoughts. His mind was on Paimon, he wondered if she would be ok without him. He left her with Amber and the others while he traveled to Liyue. But he was also relieved with the fact he could spend time alone without her getting onto him all the time.
'I hope Paimon will be alright without me... though I'm sure she's enjoying herself at Good Hunter.. probably eating all their food.' He chuckled at the thought.
A bell brought Aether out of his thoughts as the elevator stopped on the top floor. He got off and made his way to the front desk to check-in and rent a room for the night. The clerk gave him the keys and told him where his room was. He thanked the clerk and took the keys. On his way to his room, he saw the huge balcony and wandered towards it. He made his way out to the deck that overlooked the area, by this time the bright sky was covered in a dark blue color as nightfall had arrived and the sun completely disappeared beyond the horizon. As he made his way to the railing he suddenly sensed that someone was watching him. In a panic, he started to look around.
'What's this weird feeling...' Aether thought. As he kept looking around for anyone out of place then something caught his eye. He looked up towards the roof of the inn and saw a young boy standing there looking off into the distance.
Against the bright light of the full moon, Aether could see that the young man didn't even notice his presence on the balcony. The unknown male had short dark hair with teal hightlights and seemed to be wearing a black mask that covered up his face. The eyes of the mask glowed in the darkness, the mask was terrifying to look at, Aether wonder what the guy looked like behind that mask. Aether saw that he was holding a green spear in his right hand, his arm had a green tattoo on it and it seemed to glow.
He was wearing a white shirt and dark-colored pants. The young man's body seem very well toned, Aether knew right away that he was a warrior just by how muscular his arms and body were, he even wore an anemo vision on his left glove. Seeing that he was armed, Aether made sure to stay on guard, but something about him made Aether stand on edge but curious all at the same time. Aether's heart pounded in his chest the longer he gazed at the unknown male, which didn't make any sense to him.
'Is he an enemy or friend...?' Aether thought to himself, Aether's curiosity was getting even more intense as the seconds ticked by. Aether's body had a mind of its own and before he realized it he took a couple of steps closer to the roof. Aether couldn't shake this weird feeling in his chest and the closer he got the intensity grew.
"Hey.. what are you..." But before Aether could finish he saw that the boy looked down at him for a couple of seconds, then suddenly a gust of wind picked up out of nowhere which ruffled Aether's hair and clothes causing him to shield his eyes from the wind current. Aether saw what looked like a green and black aura surrounding the strange male and in a blink of an eye he had vanished into thin air leaving Aether dazed and confused.
'Hmm... Who was that guy and why was he wearing a scary mask?' Aether thought as he continued to stare at the spot where the boy once stood.
Minutes later, Aether found his room. Opened the door and walked inside towards the bed. The room was simple, nothing too fancy, a table with seats that could seat four people were off to the side. The bathroom was off the right of the bedroom. Aether sat on the bed and looked out the window as the moonlight shined through. His thoughts still went back to the young boy he saw earlier.
'That feeling I felt earlier... Was it because of him...?' Aether wondered.
Eventually, Aether unbraided his hair so that it flowed freely down his back, he then took off his cape and clothes to the point he was only wearing his boxers. He laid down on the bed and soon drowsiness overwhelmed him and fell fast asleep.
The next morning, Aether woke up and showered before packing his things up for his trip to Liyue. After he finished his shower he dried his long blonde hair and got dressed, he then braided his hair, put his boots on, grabbed his things, and headed to the door. Aether opened the door and closed it behind him. He then went downstairs to the front desk to check out. As the clerk was checking him out Aether got curious and asked the clerk if she knew who the boy he saw last night was and possibly learn his name.
"Umm... So I saw a young boy wearing a black demon mask standing on the roof of the inn last night. Do you happen to know who he is?" he asked.
"Oh, you must have seen Xiao, he is a guardian yaksha who protects Liyue and a very powerful one to boot. He usually only drops by here for a plate of his favorite food almond tofu then leaves." The clerk answered.
'So his name is Xiao huh...and he's a guardian yaksha...' Aether thought to himself.
The clerk spoke again, bring Aether out of his thoughts.
"I'm shocked that he allowed you to see him, he usually doesn't stick around long enough for people to get a good look at him, he usually stays out of sight of the guests."
'So he stayed longer than usual and in plain sight because I showed up?... but why?' that made Aether wonder, even more.
Aether thanked the clerk and headed towards the elevator. The elevator reached the top floor where Aether was waiting for it to arrive to bring him down to the ground. As he stepped onto the platform he got the feeling in his chest again. Aether looked around to see if Xiao was nearby and that it was indeed him making Aether feel this way, but the elevator started to descend and soon his eyesight was cut off. As the elevator slowly descended, Aether's mind raced on about Xiao and why he kept having this strange feeling. He wasn't even sure if Xiao was the reason his chest felt weird.
'That feeling again... was he nearby again or am I just going crazy?' Aether thought.
Hours later, Aether finally arrived at Liyue Harbor. The city was beautiful, the site in front of Aether was breathtaking. The city was nestled right on the ocean. Aether could see all kinds of ships docked at the port and some approaching from the sea. The city itself almost looked like a castle that floated on the ocean. Aether entered the city through the front gates and admired all the buildings and stores along the main road. Aether saw people everywhere moving about and shouting as they were trying to sell products they had displayed on their stalls or in their stores. He eventually found the adventurer's guild and picked up his commission.
Aether made his way over to the restaurant to meet up with Mr. Zhongli for lunch before he headed out on his travels. Aether found him already sitting at a table waiting. Mr. Zhongli dressed like a nobleman, he wore a dark brown colored coat with gold designs throughout and dark brown colored pants with black shoes. He had long dark brown hair that he kept tied back with a gold pin. If anything he could pass as a king from the way he dressed and spoke.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to grab my commission request," Aether said as he sat down at the table.
"No worries Aether, I did not wait long, I already placed our order. I hope you don't mind." Zhongli replied with a small smile crossing his face as the young boy sat down at the table across from him.
"Not at all, thanks for meeting up with me," Aether replied.
Wasn't long before Zhongli could tell Aether had something bothering him so he decided to ask.
"You seem to have something on your mind, what is it?" Zhongli asked.
Aether looked up at Zhongli before he spoke.
"I.. umm... I saw someone on the roof of the Wangshu Inn last night, a boy by the name of Xiao, and I've been wondering who he is for some reason." Aether answered.
"Ah.. the young Adeptus... So you met Xiao huh?" Zhongli replied then continued. "To be honest I'm surprised you even know his name let alone got to see what he looks like, guess you asked the clerk at the inn for his name. He doesn't like interacting with humans and he tends to stay away from them as much as possible, this is a first for me." He concluded.
Zhongli went on to explain who Xiao was. However, Zhongli did not tell Aether everything. As for him to show any kind of interest towards Aether had him puzzled, so Zhongli could not help him much there and that he needed to find out the answers on his own.
With that Aether enjoyed his lunch with Zhongli. He thanked him for the meal and the information he provided even went so much as to help Aether mark on the map where the hilichurl camp could be at. After everything they talked about, Aether still had more questions than answers. Aether stopped at a market just before the gates of the city to pick up some supplies before he left. With everything packed and ready he set off to complete his commission.
As Zhongli watched Aether leave the city he couldn't help but wonder.
'Hmm... this is interesting. Could Xiao be interested in this human? But why this boy? Could Xiao possibly be....' Zhongli thought to himself. "Well, I will have to stick around to find out then. Be safe young traveler, you have a long and tough road ahead of you." As he spoke to himself.
*Couple hours later*
Aether stopped along the road to pull out the request form to double-check what he needed to do. The commission requested him to eliminate some hilichurl's camping near some ruins. They were camping close to the ruins and along a road causing problems with merchants trying to make deliveries between Liyue and Mondstadt. Aether soon tracked down the camp, he could see the hilichurl's dancing around a torch in the distance. As Aether approached the camp he drew his sword and began his attack. With a couple of quick swings of his sword and him having the ability to use the power of anemo, a gift he received from touching one of the statues of the seven. He made quick work of them seeing as they were easy to handle by himself and that there were no tougher enemies in the area, otherwise he'd need help from his friends in the guild.
"And that takes care of that...Now time to head back and collect my reward."Aether spoke to himself as he was dusting the dirt off his clothes and looked around at the dead hilichurl's scattered on the ground.
As Aether was about to leave the camp, he could feel the earth shake beneath his feet as heavy footsteps grew closer to him. He heard a spine-chilling roar ring out from behind him; he was frozen from fear as a shadow loomed over him. He turned around to come face to face with a huge stone hide lawachurl.
To be continued in Chapter 2