❤︎︎𝘼𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩❤︎︎

"𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛， 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢．"

Aether sat up from his messy bed, his eyes were burning like a stove. He could just barely open them. He got up and put on the same armor as usual, he decided to keep his hair down today. Which was new.  He limped out of his small house, barely even getting a hold of his balance. He was about to start his daily commissions and help around Mondstat.

'I'm so tired...and why are my eyes burning -? I'm almost close to tears..but I'm not sad -? What's wrong with me ? Even people are looking at me weird....why are the citizens staring at me -?!' Thoughts raided through his brain once again, flooding it with negativity.

"Greetings Katheryne !"

"Ad astra abyssosque. Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild."

"Any commissions for today ?"

"Yep, there are a few dangerous hilichurl camps that are bothering people in Liyue. If you could check that out, that would be lovely."

"Of course, I shall be on my way."

The traveler exited Mondstat. Starting his long journey to Liyue. The whole time, Aether had been begging for the battles to be easier then usual, he could just not handle too many fights today. For his fear, the day he snapped, was soon to arrive.. and he will remain cautious, for he will choose fight, over flight.

3 hours later.

Aether had arrived to Liyue, he had already run into a hilichurl camp.  The ones on rocks had shot at him multiple times as he used his mighty sword to kill all of the hilichurls who had been throwing pyro slimes at him, those really ticked him off.

After finishing off all the other hilichurls, Aether traveled to another, from what he remembers, he thinks there would be around ten or so ? Or less. Traveler finally approached the other camp, but something was off. There were no hilichurls ,it was a wreck and looked just like it had been raided.

"What in the ? Where are all of the hilichurls ?"

Suddenly, a whole hoard of hilichurls came charging towards Aether, along with three Mitachurls. Aether started to tremble, knowing that he was most likely going to fail. Usually he could defeat a crowd like this easily, but he knew his condition is horrible for such a fight. Aether ignored the negative thoughts and pulled out his sword, first he started with all the hilichurls, dodging all of the mitachurls attacks while doing so. His stamina was running down fast, though he kept fighting. One by one, all the small ones fell. Leaving Aether and the mitachurls, he was panting loudly, trying to catch his breath.

"Game on, hideous beasts."

Aether use his windblade to destroy all of the Mitachurls shields at once, but before Aether could finish, he was thrown like nothing, hit by the large Mitachurl

"Agh -! Come on..GIVE ME ALL YOU'VE GOT."
"GUST SURGE!!"
The Traveler sent an Anemo tornado swirling towards the three Mitachurls. The tornado picked them up, causing them to lose hp rapidly, after a few seconds the tornado dies down. Out of frustration, all of the Mitachurls all charge after Aether at once.
"shit shit shit shit SHIT -!!"
Aether was constantly getting hit and knocked around by the mitachurls, not even being able to move a single muscle except for the blood curdling screaming coming from his mouth, one of the mitachurls pushed him to hard, two of them crushing him at the same time. His screams started to die down. Along with his HP.

"Fuck...never thought I would have to do this..."

"XIAOOO -!!"

Immediately, his friend Xiao had shown up.

"Where's the proble- TRAVELER ."

Xiao slaughtered all of the Mitachurls easily, unlike Aether who struggled at first. He rushed over to the traveler and started to treat his wounds.

"What in the hell happened."

"I don't..know..I was just clearing out the hilichurl camps, but then there was a whole hoard, and I couldn't- help.."

Aether teared up, knowing he was breaking his character, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't hold back his concern for much longer, and this is just the beginning.

"Slow down, traveler. Everything is okay, I'm here now. Can you stand up for me ?"

The traveler slowly built himself up onto his legs, but his legs weren't very strong, he could simply fall by any sudden movement. Xiao spotted Aether's pain almost immediately.

"Does standing hurt you, Traveler ?"

Traveler nodded, he was speechless, so disappointed in himself for not being able to finish the battle and heal himself.

"Sit down. I'll go get supplies to heal your wounds."

And just like that, Xiao vanished, leaving black smoke behind him. Aether slowly sat down, he hugged his knees. He hated this, he always takes care of people, not the other way around. How come out of no where the roles just switched ? He doesn't know, but he sure feels guilty about it.
A few minutes had flew by, finally, Xiao came back with treatment. He gently healed all of the travelers wounds, comforting him while doing so.

"Thank you, Xiao."
Aether smiled warmly as Xiao wiped his hot tears.
"Of course, you should probably rest for a day or so, and report back to Mondstat."

"Will do, thank you again !"
The traveler hugged his hero, then took his long trip back all the way to Mondstat, the walking made Aether realize they should develop a way to travel better then legs. Seriously the long travels sucked, and Aether always had to sneak past hilichurl camps when he wasn't in the best condition for fighting.
Even though the travels were dangerous, they still gave Aether some peace, and time to himself. He loved having at least just a small amount of time to himself, though he also loved being with friends who comforted him, they never realize how much they help their dear friend, traveler. But he realizes, and takes it to heart.

Aether had finally made his way back to Mondstat, he didn't dare try to speak to anyone, he just needed to get home. He faced his door, stopping as he heard a yell. Of course, it was Paimon.

"TRAVELER ! Paimon has been looking for you all over the place !  Where in the world were you ?!"

"I was out doing commissions, Paimon."

"Without Paimon -?! But Traveler ..I'm your travel companion—!"

"PAIMON, just let it go. please. Go hang out with someone else."

Paimon stared at the traveler in shock, trembling. She has never seen her friend like this, this is the first time he has ever yelled.
'What is happening to you....Traveler ?'

Aether stepped inside of his house, slamming the door behind him.
He leaned against the door, slowly sliding down.
"I'm so sorry Paimon...I can't find myself help, and it hurts...please..forgive me."
Aether balled up onto the floor, hugging his knees tightly. After crying against the door for a few minutes, Aether got up and walked to the restroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, he splashed cold water on his eyes to try and attempt to cool them down. But it didn't work. He walked out, disappointed . 

After an hour or so of cooling himself down, he fell onto his couch, sighing loudly.

"When will life just- be easy for me ? It's all going downhill, and my sanity is slowly falling along with it."
Aether said facepalming. He couldn't stop thinking about Xiao and how gentle he was with him. He must be a real friend, to care for Aether like that. He wishes he could just say thank you, one last time, but, for everything.