A lost friend's journey

Chapter 16

And when they were all taken to archons knew where, Aether had jumped with them, hiding in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to get out of there.

And here he was now, heading back to Mondstadt. When in Celestia, Aether had no access to the teleport waypoints. Having explored Enkanomiya a bit, he did manage to unlock some...

Aether was only glad they had a way to return there, now that the key that was in Makoto's possession was taken from them. They... had no way of returning back to Celestia, but at least they had a quick way all around Mondstadt, Liyue and Enkanomiya, and for that much he was grateful.

"What..." mumbled Rukkhadevata.

As they made it back to Mondstadt, minutes after they left the castle, it was only to found a wind barrier raised around the city. It reminded Aether terribly of the way Stormterror's lair used to look like before they got rid of all the wind.

It could only be Venti's doing.

"How are we supposed to get in?" asked Makoto, with a slight tremor in her voice.

"I have an idea," he said.

Aether hadn't revealed to the archons he could teleport, but if there was a moment to do so, then it would be now. The wind barrier was so dense they wouldn't be able to go through without getting cut and torn to pieces by the strong, howling winds.

But there was two teleport waypoints in Mondstadt city.

One higher than the other. Aether would rather they use the lower one, least they get spotted more easily with the one on top of the headquarter. Laying low until they found Venti would be the best course of action.

"Everyone just, hold each other," he instructed as he himself put a hand on Morax' shoulder.

Aether waited for everyone to have a hold of someone before he closed his eyes, visualizing the waypoint he wanted to teleport to. The one just above the central place, somewhere they could infiltrate the city without risking to be immediately noticed by Venti.

Unless the Archon had some sort of sensing when people entered his territory. Aether hoped not.

Aether felt the familiar sensation of being pulled, he embraced it. He was far too used to it to be bothered by the squishy feeling by now. He only opened his eyes when he felt his feet touch solid ground, looking besides him and making sure everyone had landed besides him; they all had varying degrees of shock, and some were nauseous. Aether could perfectly understand that feeling, it did the same thing to him the first few times.

"Where... are we? What is happening?"

Aether turned abruptly in the direction of the Cryo Archon as she looked at them, seeming more confused than ever. "And who are you?" she continued as she looked straight at Aether, her brows furrowing.

What did that mean? Had she mysteriously had her memories erased? What the hell happened in those few seconds...?

"Tsaritsa, what do you mean?" asked Morax carefully.

"Morax?" the Tsaritsa took a few steps back, looking at all of them now with extreme confusion on her face. From where he stood, Aether could see the gears turning in her head. It didn't make any sense, why would she be so lost?

"Tsaritsa, where do you think we are right now?" asked Rukkhadevata, looking cautiously at the Cryo Archon.

She looked around herself, stayed silent for a few seconds, before her frown deepened. "Why are we in Mondstadt?"

Aether's eyes widened. He feared he was starting to understand what was happening, and he didn't like it one bit.

Without warning, he materialized his sword just as Murata did, the both of them brandishing their weapons in the Archon's direction while her own eyes widened and she backed off a bit more, only to be met with Focalors who was glaring down at her from behind.