⚠️ THIS IS NOT A ROMANTIC ONE SHOT ⚠️
Aether POV:
"So according to Dainsleif there should be some ruins right about here..." Paimon says, her eyes skimming the map. I place my rucksack down to examine the area, "Hm... ah here it is!" I point to a small gap between two jagged rocks, sinister fog flows out of the gap, "yeesh... this place gives Paimon the heebie jeebies, you go in first! Paimon will take the rear!" I roll my eyes, "you're such a chicken" I mumble to myself as I slide through the narrow gap, I pull Paimon through the small gap straining, *pop* "looks like SOMEBODY gained weight..." I say nudging her playfully, "that's what too much sticky honey roast does to you" I chuckle as Paimon tugs on my hair and stomps her feet. I wave at the air dispersing the fog revealing a chamber-like atmosphere with eerie purple lights and strange bubbles, there are a few lamps on the floor and they flicker slightly. "O...kay so lets get abyss-lector-huntering!!" Paimon declares, "Huntering?" I ask curiously, "Shut up! Paimon is using top notch English" she wiggles her finger at me. I roll my eyes and carefully walk forward into the unknown, I dodge past the purple bubbles with the help of my wind glider, my feet touch the ground, I use elemental sight and a blue vapour like mark is visible. "This way!" I whisper-shout at Paimon, we enter the room to see an upside down Statue of the Seven, unknown purple energy swirls around it, it's tied down with chains, "Look! There's someone kneeling there!" I carefully approach the figure, it was a man dressed in treasure hoarder clothes, his hands weakly dangle in front of him in a cage like formation, his head low and body completely still, I couldn't even hear him breathing. "Is he...dead?" Paimon asks poking his shoulder, I press a palm into his wrist, ice cold... I nod, "we should venture in further, we don't know what this Statue of the Seven can do to us, it's best to just keep going and move away from this thing" I beckon Paimon over as we turn around the corner, there was a slight ramp uphill with those same eerie purple bubbles coming down in numerous groups, "looks like this is a running one..." I mutter to myself, I jump up and down on the spot a couple times warming up my legs, I dodge left and right jumping up and down quickly as the platforms break as soon as my feet lift off from it, I collapse on the stable platform on the other side panting heavily, "phew... Paimon thinks that was a death trap" I nod, "y-yeah... my senses are tingling... the abyss lector should be near" I say in a hushed voice.
I enter the next room, it was completely empty and full of cobwebs, "a dead end?" I look around the room, *slash* a hydro blade almost cuts my waist open, I quickly move away and gets into my fighting stance, pointing my sword forward, "my my... getting so worked up are we?" a low sinister voice says in a mocking manner, an abyss lector emerges from the shadows. Paimon hides behind me as the abyss lector slowly moves closer to me, soon an epic battle broke out, I slash at the abyss lector from all directions, dodging it's attacks as I go, I flip midair and kick the abyss lector in the stomach, it skids along the concrete floors, I take this opportunity to lunge forward with my blade aiming directly at it's heart. Suddenly a jet of unknown elemental power hits my blade aside, I turn around to see a portal forming, a young girl around my age... wearing celestial clothes, beautiful blonde hair, and a Khaenri'ah traditional flower threaded into her hair. My eyes widen... "LUMINE!!" I yell, my voice cracking a little, the abyss lector stumbles on it's feet and stands behind Lumine, my heart sinks a little, she...she blocked an attack from me to save the abyss? "Lumine... please come home with me!" she looks up at the roof, her shoulders lower, "home... that's whenever we're together, though you need not hurry brother, I have already been through this journey once, there's always enough time to wait for you... don't try to stop the abyss, you'll realise soon enough..." my heart starts beating rapidly as my brain frantically throws thoughts and questions at me. "Until we meet again..." Lumine says solemnly before summoning the portal again, slowly disappearing, I run forward into the portal, I wasn't about to lose her again this easily! For a moment my mind was blurry, all I could see was galaxies, the portal throws me onto a grassy cliff, I grumble a little, "oh... my back..." I stand up, the cliff overlooks what looks like hell, block-like objects were moving in snake formation in and out of the lava craters, the skies were dyed red and black mist dance in the air, I look down to see a small figure accompanied by 6 abyss mages and 4 mitachurls with shields, Lumine... "your highness... princess..." one of the abyss mages bows down to her, "soon we will seize the power in Teyvat and revel in it's glory, leaving the lowly peasants to rot ALONE!" the abyss mage chuckles to itself, "Hm...good" Lumine starts to move forward, her bodyguards and servants following.
"Paimon thinks we need to seriously use our brains... don't look at me! Paimon's out of brain juice after all this" I smack my forehead, "you are practically useless" I say as I descend from the cliff, I creep forward until I'm a few paces away from Lumine, I activate elemental sight, my breath gets caught up in my throat, purple satin was draped all over Lumine's body, it was like a harness, as I look up, it was connected to a cross, "she's a puppet to us" a voice echoes in my mind, I shudder, I creep closer and notice her eyes aren't that beautiful youthful golden hue, it was a dark golden hue with a slight edge of dark blue, only one thought crossed my mind, I've got to save her. I continue to sneak behind her and the group of servants until I saw a magnificent castle, but it was upside down. Many stone pillars were placed on both sides of the path, leading to a castle with jagged rock walls, "woah..." I whisper quietly. I watch Lumine closely as she presses the password on the stone tablet, the first symbol looked a lot like a T, then the next looked like an E, slowly I realise the word was 'Teyvat', as soon as Lumine finishes spelling 'Teyvat' a small meteorite appears under her feet, slowly flipping her upside down and placing her on the pavement in front of the castle, she begins to walk into the castle. I wait for a while until the coast was clear, "Paimon... just don't make a peep..." I whisper, she gives a little nod, I step forward to the stone tablet, my eyes skim over the symbols, I carefully reach my hand out spelling the word 'Teyvat', as soon as I press the 't' key again for the second time, a meteorite appears under my feet, I punch the air in triumph as it begins to flip me upside down, my feet gently touch the pavement as my head gets a little dizzy. I shake my head vigorously, slowly getting used to being upside down.
I press my body against the pillars, the entrance was heavily guarded by buff looking dark knights carrying spears that could easily slit someones throat open, my eyes scan the area, I notice a small opening on the side of the castle, that has probably crumbled apart over the years, "ohohoho~ a weakness~" Paimon begins, I slam my hand over her mouth and pulls her down, I hold my breath, nothing happens. I sigh in relief, I mouth to Paimon, 'you could of gotten us killed!', she gives me an apologetic look. I press my body on the floor and military crawl towards the opening, I squeeze my body through, the slabs of stone rub against my waist, I find myself in a corner of a huge throne room, a majestic rock carving in the shape of a chair is in the centre of the room, it is infused with unknown elemental power and encrusted with precious stones, I hide behind a knight statue, Lumine sits at the chair while a hilichurl places a crown on her, she strokes her abyss mage companions while chuckling to herself. One of the hilichurls got so near me I swear it could hear me breathing, I hold my breath and press my body harder against the wall, praying it doesn't look behind the knight statue, suddenly the wall opens up and I fall down, "ah!" I say as quietly as possible, the wall closes up again, I stand up to see a spiral of stairs circling down, pictures of abyss lectors adorned the walls, the stairway was lit by fire torches. As curiosity gets the better of me, I slowly make my way up the stairs, it led me to a small room with black satin-like pieces hooked onto a well, it makes squelching noises as it expands and contracts, I notice there was also a purple satin piece, then something clicked, these are the puppet strings controlling my sister and god knows who else!
I pull out my sword give it a good swing and I cut the satin pieces, it makes a satisfying crunch sound, at first nothing happened, then the floor starts to vibrate, I grab Paimon by the collar and dash down the stairs skidding as I go, leaving cuts on my legs, when I reach the throne room, the abyss monsters were all in crisis, abyss mages fainted, mitachurls were howling, and the hilichurl's masks breaks off, revealing a hideous troll-like face. I curl my lip in disgust before wrapping an arm around Lumine's waist as she falls unconscious in my arms, I start sprinting, I sprinted harder than I have ever sprinted in my life. Jumping from stone slab to stone slab, until I reach that grassy cliff I was teleported to, I fumble in Lumine's pockets and found a portal opener, I quickly point it in the direction in front of us, a portal soon forms and I quickly dive into the portal, throwing a quick glance behind me, watching Khaenri'ah fall to pieces. My feet lands back outside the ruins, "Phew... at least Paimon's mora pouch hasn't fallen off..." Paimon mutters to herself as she picks up my rucksack on the ground. I place Lumine gently on the grass, she looks at peace in her sleeping state, I quickly check her pulse, "hm... a bit slow... off to Dr Baizhu!" I declare picking her up again, I rush to the nearest teleporting point, Paimon following not far behind with the rucksack. "Doctor Baizhu!" I yell as soon as I enter Bubu Pharmacy, "Ah... traveller, what seems to be the- " his eyes skim over Lumine, "oh goodness! Come into the backroom this instant!" I place Lumine gently down on the little traditional Liyue bed, decorated with bamboo mats and silk sheets, Baizhu burns incense and wafts it under Lumine's nose and applies heat on her stomach. Baizhu starts waving different herbs over Lumine's head while mumbling an ancient Chinese spell, soon Lumine's eyes flutter open, her dark golden eyes were no more, the beautiful youthful golden hue had returned. "A-Aether...?" she says softly, I hug her tight, "Lumine..." I close my eyes and really take in this moment, feeling the shape of her in my arms, "you're back... you're back with me again" I say softly and happily, "mm... I miss you too brother" she rubs my back gently.
"Well now that you've found and saved me, does that mean we get to move on with our travels?" she asks me hopefully, my mind hesitates, I've met so many wonderful people here and made so many fond memories. My first kiss with Xiao, going to the festival with Ayaka, watching fireworks with Yoimiya, learning history with Zhongli... my heart sinks a little when thinking of leaving. But, my adventurous side yearns for more adventure, more experiences, and more opportunities, I slowly nod, "Of course... but I'd like to visit a special someone before I go" my mind instantly thought of Xiao, "sure! Lets go!" Lumine follows me to the teleporting point, a few seconds later, both our feet lands on the wooden balcony of Wangshu Inn, "there's not many people around here, are you sure that the person you're looking for is here today?" I nod, "he will be... XIAO!!!" I yell at the top of my voice. Xiao appears right beside Lumine and I, Lumine screams a little, "argh! Where did he come from?" Xiao snakes an arm around my waist pulling me close, "Aether... mm... my love... oh..." he looks up looking at Lumine, "is that your sibling?" he asks, I nod slowly. His face shifts from a slightly happy expression to one of worry, "w-wait... does that mean... you're leaving? You're leaving Teyvat?" I shakily place a hand on Xiao's shoulder, "y-yes..." I say in a small voice, a single tear leaves Xiao's eye, he brings me into a tight hug. I wrap my arms around him, "don't you ever forget about me..." we say in unison, I give Xiao a gentle kiss, "until we meet again..." I give Xiao a tiny smile. Lumine and I both transform into a bright star and shoot off into the skies of Liyue, embarking on our next big adventure... together.