紺碧の炎
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Aether stared wide-eyed at the floating figure in front of him. A boy a few inches taller than him, with Heterochromatic eyes of yellow and blue, his blue-glazed black hair, seating as the winds passed them. He wore clothes clad in maroon, slightly on the shade of magenta. Both his coat and pants were maroon, while his undershirt was a dark grey, his collar messy and open. A sort of miniature clock dangled of his belt, the epicenter of the golden clock was a bright red orb.
"Uwah?? A person from outside this world!" The contract demon cheered, leaning into Aether, who flinched. His Heterochromatic eyes traveled to Paimon, narrowing at the sight of her. "And what the hell are you?" He bluntly asked, making Paimon huff.
"Hey! Paimon is Paimon! Aether's traveling companion!" She yelled, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.
"So your names are Aether and Paimon." He hummed, making Paimon gasp at her mistake. The 'Demon' grinned menacingly at her, and tears brimmed the poor child's eyes. "P-Paimon's just joking!" She argued, trembling.
Aether sweatdropped at her panic, turning to the Contract Demon who was merely chuckling. "So, what do you need?" The 'demon' asked, simply floating in the air as if nothing. Aether blinked in surprise, before scratching the back of his head. "Let me guess...you only wanted to try summoning me and didn't plan on making a contract"
Aether flinched at the accuracy of his answer, looking up to see that the contract demon was floating in a sitting position. "It's okay!" The demon assured, smiling brightly at the duo. "It's been decades since I was last summoned, so it's nice" he explained, enjoying the free wind that hit his face.
Aether blinked, sensing the lonely tone in the male's voice, which made him frown. He took pity on him, knowing how it felt. He had, of course, lost his twin, but he still had Paimon and his friends back at Monstadt. "I actually wanted to make a contract."
"Hah?!" Paimon exclaimed, staring at Aether as if he's gone insane. He ignored her warnings, offering a hand to the contract demon.
"I want to make a contract. I have a good feeling about it." He explained, the determined glint in his eyes shining brightly that the contract demon seemed awed. His eyes that showed the sun and moon gleamed before he smiled softly.
"Tell me what you want then."
Aether hummed, "Accompany me in my travels, my search for my sister"
The contract demon gaped, "What? That's it?" Aether nodded, making the demon bewildered. He scratched the back of his head, his lips quivering as if he suppressed a smile.
"Okay...in return...uh..." He trailed off, having difficulty finding his benefit to the contract. He snapped his fingers, "In return, you have to continue being interesting! Until this journey of ours end!"
Aether blinked at the grinning demon before he chuckled in amusement. 'Stay interesting... I can do that.'
"Well, I won't have any trouble with that!" Aether declared, offering his hand to which the demon gladly took it.
"I'll be in your care-"
"Alastor...my name's Alastor"
Aether smiled.
A flame erupted from Alastor's hand, wrapping around his arm and Aether's before it vanished in azure sparkles. Awed at the magnificent blue flames that had formed their contract, Aether's eyes shined in amazement.
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"Paimon thinks aether was right! Bringing you along is a good thing!"
Paimon exclaimed, munching on the delicious dish that Alastor had cooked. It was a Liyue dish, as she presumed and she knew the moment she caught a whiff of the food that it would be delicious. Aether was drooling over it, as Alastor chuckled in amusement at their enthusiasm.
"Alright. Do you need help in anything else?" He asked, slightly shivering at the disturbance of the leyline. "I heard about Dvalin." He murmured, making Aether nod.
"We'll be going to Storm Terrors Lair in a few days or so. Are you coming along?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. Alastor smiled wryly, "Of course. We're traveling companions now, but it's best if I stay low for now... Your friends would be suspicious of how a stranger suddenly appeared to help." He chuckled, aether having agreed with his words.
"But you have a method of getting past the storm barrier, right?" Alastor questioned, taking a bite on an apple. He watched Aether stiffen, sweatdropping at the question he had asked. Heterochromatic eyes scanned the surroundings, faintly glowing.
"I guess it won't be a major problem, since Barbatos is at your side." He hummed, shocking the blonde outlander. Alastor smiled sweetly, "Don't worry, I already knew after lingering in Monstadt for a while."
"Alastor... I kinda was surprised by your name. I thought it would be a bit more extravagant." Aether admitted, scratching his cheek. He was a bit embarrassed with his assumptions, but the contract demon merely smiled.
"It's not my real name, but someone gave it to me. I'm indebted to them for saving me, and I only asked for a new name since I didn't like my original one. So they gave me the denomination of 'Alastor'." He recalled, smiling fondly to himself.
"So~ Mr. Demon doesn't like his name and asked for a new one. Well okay then." Paimon hummed, still devouring the food he had cooked her them. Aether scowled, he didn't even get to the third servings when Paimon was at her 6th.
"Where does the food go?" Alastor whispered into Aether's ear, but the boy shook his head. Aether answered, "I don't know myself." The blonde outlander chuckled quietly, as the demon shook his head incredulously at how the small being seemed to have an endless pit as a stomach.
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Soon a few days flew by, and Alastor became a more recognizable part of their group, not that people knew that there was a new edition to their group. Sighing tiredly, Alastor fiddled with a sort of watch, that reflected the sunlight on Aether's face. The outlander tilted his head at the odd object, humming in thought. "Alastor, how old are you?" He suddenly asked, which mildly surprised the contract demon.
Alastor brought a finger under his chin, seeming to be deep in thought. "Around two thousand I guess... I was born in a time between during and after the Archon wars." He explained, an unknown emotion shining in his eyes.
"Two thousand years?! Are you an Adeptus?!" Although Aether did not know what the 'Adeptus' Paimon spoke of, he assumed they were divine beings of sorts. Paimon on the other hand gasped, staring intently at the contract demon.
Unnerved by such an intense stare coming from a small creature, Alastor chuckled. "Erm... How should I say this?..." He trailed off. "I'm a being given immortality during the Archon wars. Those with Heterochromactic eyes-" He pointed to his dual-colored orbs, "Were depicted as cursed in the time I was born. During my Birth, the moon suddenly became red, which is a phenomenon unorthodox to this world, became the first sign of a curse, my eyes being second. Because of those two things, everyone around me assumed a diety had cursed me....which is not completely true." He whispered the last bit, which neither of his companions heard.
Aether frowned, clearly hearing the lonely tone in the boy's voice. It was how he spoke when he mentioned his sister, the tone of loneliness. "Oh...That must have been hard." He murmured, glancing at and shaking his head, conveying the message of ceasing their prying. Paimon who subtly nodded tried to muster a more cheery subject into their conversations.
"Then, how did Al know Aether was from another world?"
"Al?" Alastor blinked in surprise before chuckling softly at his newly acquired nickname.
"Your blood."
Aether now was the one to blink in surprise, which Alastor noticed. "During my summoning ritual, you offered your blood. I sensed the difference between the blood of humans in teyvat from yours." He explained further, bringing realization to the outlander, who stared at his palm that he had cut open.
"Right, we need to do something about your clothes." Aether immediately changed the subject once noticing the conversation becoming dull.
Alastor sweatdropped. "Yes, my previous contractors have commented on it. I only wear these clothes because one of my contractors made me!" He complained, reminiscing on a fashion diva from Fontaine several centuries ago.
Paimon squealed, grabbing their wrists and dragging them into Mond, soon leading them to a shop clearly for clothes. Alastor sweatdropped, watching as the fairy-like being forced them to wait by the dressing room as she skimmed through her choices on clothes.
"And why can't I be the one to pick?" Aether questioned narrowing his eyes at Paimon who deadpanned at him.
"Say's the one wearing a midriff!" She retorted, earning a gasp from the traveler who started to blush a deep crimson.
"Here you go, Al! Paimon made sure to get ones that match you perfectly!" She puffed her chest in pride, as the contract demon chuckled quietly, trudging inside the dressing room.
After several minutes, the trio exited the shop with Alastor wearing clothes of a different style. His hair was also tousled and became untamed after Paimon's insistence on the style. Now wearing a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, paired with a crimson short hooded cloak over the shirt. You could see the sides of a dark red belt with silver details under the side of his shirt which was tucked into his black pants. A pair of black boots, reaching a few centimeters under his knees, with red shoelaces.
"Woah! Al looks super handsome!!" Paimon gave him a toothy grin, not noticing that the blonde outlander's attention was stuck to the vision hanging by the boy's waist. Tilting his head, he pointed to the shining crimson orb on the side of his shirt was untucked.
"Your...vision."
Alastor smiled wryly, slowly shaking his head as his palm slowly approached the crimson orb.
It was a crimson orb with the Pyro symbol proudly shining at its center. Around it was a gold border with small numerals around it like a clock, which was the same for the orb-shaped gem itself. There were faint lines that moved inside the vision, like the hands of the clock, which was now showing the time of 10 in the morning. Over the golden border was a diamond-silver crescent moon, that would shine during the night.
It was unlike any other vision Aether had seen, Monstadts and Liyue's so far.
"It's always been different, that's all."