Chapter Text
His feet carried him towards the serene waters of Liyue Harbor, a hesitant Paimon following behind. His head felt heavy- it was like he was in a dream, a thick fog in his mind. It helped, though. The anger boiling in his heart simmered down a bit, like a wild animal put down to rest.
He walked up familiar steps, the chatter of both locals and foreigners humming in his ears. He stood in the back, letting Paimon push her way to the front.
The sound of panic reached him, and his reaction was like second nature. He crept behind the nearby buildings, Paimon yammering at his side. He wouldn’t be found this time- he already had his experience with this before. He just needed to-
“Halt!” Aether froze as he heard the yell from a nearby Millelith soldier, and he looked down from the ledge he was about to slide from. Shit.
He had been through this before, so why was he making careless mistakes? He backed up, his fight or flight instinct kicking in as he fled from the soldiers.
His mind grew foggier as he went through the motions. Go down the stairs. Get cornered. A man with bright ginger hair saves him. It was so sickeningly familiar. This had happened so long ago for him- but the memories were as vivid as the ones from when she left, putting him back into this spiral.
It made him sick.
Then, in his hands was a seemingly frail piece of paper. He stood at the edge of Jueyun Karst, his head bowed down. His feet moved on obediently, going through the actions that he had gone through once before.
A restaurant. A man with long brown hair- Zhongli. That fucking liar. He was about to do all of this work just to have none of his real questions answered. His hands clenched into fists underneath the table, but it went unnoticed by his company.
Flowers, perfume, work, incense. Was he forgetting something? Probably. It didn't matter much to him. The Exuvia.
It felt strange, walking up the steps leading to the Golden House. He remembered it taking a lot longer to get to this point- was he forgetting what he had done? His head felt foggy, his limbs moving without much thought from himself.
He pushed open the doors to the Golden House, a timid Paimon following a while behind. His eyes scanned around the room, ignoring the injured guards on the floor.
Footsteps echoed through the room, but his own feet had long stopped moving. A cocky grin upon a pale face met his gaze, but Aether didn’t react.
“You've already fulfilled your task as guides, so why do you still linger here? Haven't you already seen enough trouble for today?” The lanky man spoke, and Aether took a step forward, his fingers grasping at the hilt that had appeared in his hand.
“Tartaglia.”