ON THE OTHER SIDE | AETHER

ELEVEN

You stepped inside the circle of the domain and a wave of numbness shook through your body. Fortunately, you weren't teleported back to that cavity of empty space. Your eyes opened to see the door of the domain in front of you. Paimon was sat on the steps in front and once she noticed you and Aether were back, she quickly floated over.

"Did Cloud Retainer accept our offering?" she asked.

You nodded.

"Did she believe you, then? Is the adeptus on our side?"

"Cloud Retainer is going look into it herself, so I guess that means she must believe us somewhat," you answered.

"We should get going to Mt. Hulao now," Aether said. He wasn't looking at either of you and, as he continued, you would find out why he was avoiding eye contact. "I have a suggestion that the both of you may not like."

"What is it?" you asked.

"We'll have to go Wangshu Inn after meeting with Mountain Shaper, which is all the way across the nation of Liyue. I feel that we may become too exhausted to make the trek tonight, so I was thinking that I could go to Mt. Hulao on my own while you two rest for the night. Then we could leave for Wangshu Inn in the morning and be energized enough to do it," he said.

If you were to be completely honest, you wanted to pass out right then and there. Your eyelids were heavy, and your feet hurt. You didn't mind agreeing to Aether's proposal because you might have suggested it if not for him beating you to the punch. But something about him pressing forward on his own bothered you. "What about you?" you asked, stepping toward Aether.

"What about me?" he replied.

"You need rest too." You were sure you and Paimon weren't the only exhausted ones in the trio. Aether may be more endurant than you, but he would still need to recharge eventually. "I'll agree to your plan only if you make sure to get some sleep."

Aether seemed to hesitate with his response, probably not expecting you to concern yourself with his well-being. "After I talk with Mountain Shaper, I'll rest too."

You smiled, saying, "Good."

"Where will we rest?" Paimon asked. "Cloud Retainer probably won't like us sleeping in her home."

"We can go back to that camp at the foot of Mt. Aocang, the one Aether cleared out," you suggested. "But we'll have to climb back down..." You grimaced at the thought, not wanting to do any extra exercise.

"We don't have to climb. We can glide," Aether remarked, starting to walk away.

Glide? You thought. Was he proposing using a wind glider? Your head whipped around, your brows furrowing.

"A wind glider—" Paimon started, floating over to you to explain. "—is something Aether received in Mondstadt. He uses the wind currents to fly. It's a quicker way of going down, at least in Paimon's opinion." You stared, thinking for a moment. Many things in this world scared you and perhaps you assumed gliding would too, however, you felt excited. A part of you must have thought it would be a little fun to try.

You and Paimon followed Aether, eventually reaching the point where you'd either have to climb down or glide. Aether looked back at you. "If you don't want to, you don't have to," he said.

"I want to," you replied.

His eyes lingered, then he pulled a second wind glider out of his pocket dimension. "Watch me before you jump off." He spread his wing glider, flapping it up and stepping off the cliff. You went to the edge and watched him glide all the way down.

"Paimon will just float down," she said, leaving you as the last one still above.

You put on the wind glider as you saw Aether do it. You took in a deep breath. Your heart was racing, although you were trying to pretend you weren't nervous. Exhaling, you followed Aether and took a step forward. Your eyes instinctively squeezed shut but when you felt the wind blow on your face, slowly drifting you toward the ground, they reopened and took in the aerial view of Huaguang Stone Forest. A smile crept up on your face, both from how you felt while flying and from the stunning scene below you.