Archon Quest Prologue : Act I - The Outlander Who Caught the Wind

"We're off to... a Statue of The Seven!" Paimon cheers as she flies onwards down the path, "which of The Seven are you looking for exactly?"

Aether thinks about it as he picks up some fruits and other things that catch his eyes along the way… he doesn't actually know. He just knows that she's the sustainer of heavenly principles and that she's a lady with white hair, white robes with red and black as its stand-out colours. Whichever role "sustainer of the heavenly principle" falls under (God that'd such a mouthful, Aether would use the sustainer for short) he does not care because all he wants is for his sister to come back… and his powers, he'd like that back too please.

"I don't know actually… She really didn't give us any more clues other than her title as the sustainer," Aether replies as they trot down the path onto a cliff overlooking the beautiful scenery. Bountiful green land, a field full of life, and a lake in the middle with some kind of statue… is that the statue Paimon's talking about? It sticks out like a sore thumb, especially with that red light radiating off of it like a beacon. The land is jagged though, like something erupted from the middle of the valley or something fallen down and ruptured the area, who knows, he's not a historian anyways (although some might say he is with how many histories are held within his memory sphere). With the wind breeze flowing through his hair, he feels like something had been lifted from his shoulders. A new journey awaits them, he supposes.

"That's a Statue of The Seven!" Paimon points at the statue in the distance, jutting out of the ground on an island in the middle of a lake. Aether really wonders if this place was some sort of sacred or holy land because there's no civilisation insight — minus that whole city he sees in the distance, but that's too long of a walk to get here and back, very impractical if you ask him. 

"There are a few of these statues scattered across the land to show The Seven's protection over the world," Paimon explains, "among the seven gods, this god controls the wind."

Wind is this god's domain… Well that's definitely not the god Aether's looking for (he doubts black cubes count as a wind) but he guess it wouldn't hurt to drop by and ask where his sister is, if they've seen her, and if they know of the god he's actually looking for. At least then he'll have some kind of lead onto her whereabouts. He loves his sister dearly, and he'll scour every nook and cranny of this world just to find her, however, he also wants to be reunited soon and get the hell out of here so anything to make the process faster is appreciated.

"Paimon's not sure whether the god you're looking for is the Anemo God, but… Paimon will take you to the Anemo God's place first, and there's a reason why~" The fairy the floats off down the hill, following the road probably left by people visiting the nearby beach. 

"Oh?" Aether asks, intrigued with what Paimon has to say.

« As we all know, poetry and language flow like the wind… »

"As we all know, poetry and language flow like the wind…," Paimon talks as she floats beside Aether down the path whilst he nods in agreement to what she's saying. However, he can't help but smirk a little at how well the voice is mimicking Paimon's attitude and voice right now. 

« There'll definitely be someone there who knows about your sister. At least, that's what Paimon thinks! »

"There'll definitely be someone there who knows about your sister," Paimon stops in a moment of hesitation, "at least, that's what Paimon thinks!"

« Whether the gods actually answer you is a different story. You never know unless you try »

"Whether the gods actually answer you is a different story," she adds, "you never know unless you try!" 

"So, let's hop to it!" Paimon cheers as she twirls beside Aether with determination in her eyes before she flies faster towards the edge of the lake, leaving Aether behind to catch up.

"You missed the last part," Aether quips as he continues his normal pace. He knows Paimon won't go anywhere unless Aether's with her so he's taking his time.

« Who said I was impersonating her? »

The voice teases. "Seems like you've heard this speech before, many times to remember it by heart," he comments.

« Nah, I was reading off a script »

"A script…?"

Before Aether can ask for more clarification on what the voice meant by "script," Paimon was already shouting at him to hurry on over.

"You can swim right over!" Paimon says as soon as Aether comes closer to where Paimon is at. There is no other way for Aether to get across other than to swim whilst Paimon has the privilege to just fly across this body of water and not get wet. He wishes he can just conjure up his wings right now but that wretched sustainer really sealed his power away for good — for evil. He can still feel it inside of him, drumming, dormant, distant, but he can't access it. It is like he's being forced to watch it outside beside glass. He can see it's there but he can't do anything about it other than watch. Aether sighs, that's the third time today, as he gets himself ready to swim across the lake onto the small island.

Once he gets on the island, Paimon is ushering him over to pray to Lord Barbatos (apparently that is this god's name) for a blessing or guidance. Aether doesn't see the harm in that and walks closer to the statue whilst Paimon watches from a distance, the voice also seems to hum in agreement to what he is about to do as well so all the more reason to do it. He reaches out his hand onto the statue, touching the golden seal that is in front of him. He can feel a surge of energy from this statue, similar to the ones from the waypoints. However, whatever power this leyline holds, he can tell that it's more concentrated here, where the statue lay, instead of the waypoints all across this world. He can even feel something radiating off of the statue… is that a healing aura?

Suddenly, the statue glows bright teal. The holes that were dented into the golden trim also glows teal. He hears the ethereal sounds coming off of the statues as well as a heart beat, the feeling of that power, the leylines, encompassing him as if they were engulfing him into a hug, embracing him before it recedes back into the statue, travelling upwards onto the sphere the god holds. It glows teal, very teal, before that essence of power releases and slowly descends into Aether's chest where he absorbs it, successfully gaining its power. The wind embraces him once more, as if they were welcoming him home, as he feels the ground right beneath his feet. He can see the world — no — more correctly, he can feel the world, and with that, now he has a mental image of a map of his surrounding area. 

"Ooh!"

Paimon's suddenly voice brought Aether back into the real world as look over at Paimon who is excitedly flying over, "Did you just feel the elements of the world?"

"I… think so?" Aether answers honestly, at least he's assuming this is the elements of this world, or at least one of them. He can feel a gap in the area that he currently has access to, it is not the whole entirety of this world.

"Seems all you had to do was just touch the statue and you got the power of Anemo!" Paimon says, "as much as they may want it, people in this world can never get a hold of powers as easily as you…"

"This can't be good…," Aether says. Taking a god's power without permission? He's already in trouble with one god, he doesn't want to trouble another one! One god is enough chaos for Aether to deal with, thank you very much.

Paimon chastises Aether with his response, "it's a bit rude to say that about the power the gods just gave you!"

"It's not like I asked for it," He wants to say but Aether knows better to shut up than probably listen to someone sweet talk a god for the entirety of his journey. Look, he's very appreciative of Paimon and her willingness to be a guide for him and all, but he also isn't a fan when someone praises a god to be this all and mighty, powerful and perfect without flaw, kind of being because he knows full goddamn well that that isn't the case. If that was the case then Aether probably wouldn't be in this situation right now in the first place. 

« This world's gods are not deserving of such titles anyways »

Now that piques Aether's interest, "why?"

« Meh, you'll see in due time »

Andddd that shot Aether's interest down, way to kill off curiosity. Aether is brought back to reality when he notices Paimon waving her hand in front of his face.

"Hello~? Can you hear Paimon?" she asks confused, "earth to… uh… now that Paimon thinks about it, Paimon doesn't really know your name."

"Aether," Aether answers, "you can call me Aether." He smiles at Paimon who's face lights up when she hears her companion's name.

"Well, Paimon's Paimon! I think you've already known that," she says proudly.

« And I'm Lou, pleasure to meet you both »

"WAAA!!!!!" Paimon lets out the biggest scream there is in the world, so much so that every bird in a 15 miles radius flies off into the sky from the sudden noise. 

"What was that?!" Paimons flies onto Aether's back, "Who's voice was that?!"

The voice lets out a boisterous laugh as Paimon looks around frantically trying to find the source. "You… can hear them?" Aether asks, shocked. 

"Yes, Paimon can hear their laughs very clearly!" Paimon says with annoyance, "whoever you are, this isn't funny! Come out right now so Paimon can kick your butt for scaring Paimon!" 

« Oh? So you want to pick a fight with 🅼🅴 ? »

"Eek!" Paimon hides behind Aether once more, cowering over what appears to be the voice teasing her.

"Don't be mean to her, Lou," Aether sighs as she holds Paimon close to him (he doesn't and probably will never say it out loud for a while but he feels a sense of protectiveness over Paimon's well-being) 

« Hahaha! I was just joking! Sheesh, I'll never actually pick on someone smaller than my size »

"Just who are you?? And where are you?" Paimon asks, once she's gotten her full composure again.

« Like I said, I am Lou. I am a Watcher. There's nothing more to it honestly »

« As to where I am… I'm always right beside you. I am like your companion of some sort, just that I am missing a body and I am just a disembodied voice in your head, tee hee »

"Could you hear them this whole time??" Paimon looks at Aether with confusion.

"Uh.. yeah," Aether answers unsure.

"No wonder! You've been spacing out ever since the day Paimon met you," Paimon explains, "Paimon thought that was just how you were, so Paimon didn't want to comment on it, but now Paimon knows the truth."

Paimon then points at the air, the sky, and everywhere around her, "it was your fault, disembodied voice!"

« The name's Lou, and I didn't do nothing, it's his choice whether or not he wants to listen to me, and he did »

"Yeah, but it's not like it's easy to ignore someone's voice when they're talking to you directly," Paimon stomps the air out of frustration and annoyance before folding her hand up in front of her chest with a pout.

« I'd disagree, I'm quite great at it actually »

"Well, that's you and not us!" Paimon retorts.

"Alright.. Alright… settle down people," Aether acts as a middle ground between the two, he doesn't know why but this scene is very familiar to him. Maybe it's because these two's arguments remind him of when he and Lumine used to fight over silly little things and had to be broken off by… "I guess this is what he felt like," Aether muses. 

"Well, anyways! As Paimon was saying, if we keep heading west from here, we'll eventually reach Mondstadt, the City of Freedom," Paimon points to the city Aether saw in the distance, "Mondstadt is the city of wind, because they worship the God of Anemo. So perhaps, because you got power from the God of Anemo, you can find some clues there."

"IF they don't get into trouble with the Anemo God first," Aether quips inside of his head.

Paimon twirls closer towards the city, keeping it in sight, "There are also lots of bards there, so perhaps one of them has heard news of your sister."

« Perchance »

Lou mindlessly adds. "Let's move then!" Paimon encourages as she twirls happily, "The elements in this world responded to your prayers and Paimon thinks that's a lovely sign."

« More like an omen »

"Hey! Paimon heard that!" She says rather loudly, "geez seriously, what is up with you guys and thinking that the gods aren't great?"

« You'll see in a moment, afterall, you're about to meet one »

Paimon seems sceptical over Lou's words, "How do you know?"

« I just do »

"Alright… We'll take your word for it," Paimon looks over towards the city with her hands on her hips and a proud smile, "Mondstadt, here we come!"

Suddenly, a slime just appears right below her feet, causing Paimon to scream once again. However, this time she fled into a dust of stars and constellations. Aether is too flabbergasted at the sight of a fire slime suddenly appearing on an island, in the middle of the lake, surrounded by water. Like, how did you get here little guy???? But, since said little guy is currently trying to attack him, hmm… he guesses it's a good guinea pig to test out his new powers. 

Focusing his newly found abilities onto his hand, he summons wind spirals that blow the slime into pieces within mere seconds. "Too powerful!" Aether thinks.

As more fire slimes come out from the ground, Aether focusses his power onto his hand (although with little power this time) and holds the wind blades for far longer, letting it eat out the slimes before a powerful wind surge shoots out from his hand.

« That should do it! I'd say you look like a normal vision user now »

"Vision user?" Aether asks, although he doesn't get the chance to inquire more about that information yet again (darn you Lou and your perfect timing) as he notices that the grass around him are burning… and that there are more fire slimes to deal with. 

"Where are these little guys coming from?! We're literally surrounded by water!" Aether complains to the universe as he tries to get away from the burning grass, "maybe having wind power is not the greatest at going against creatures made out of literal fire with flammable grass as the battlefield."

« They're not made out of fire, they're made out of pyro, a kind of element akin to fire that's much more powerful and deadly. A much more concentrated version of it, you can say »

« And don't worry about the grass, it'll regrow, plus you're surrounded by water right now, I doubt the fire will spread »

"Sweet, then I don't have to worry about doing this then?" Aether focusses all of his power into a surge of anemo that takes the form of a tornado, scooping all of the pyro slimes up from the ground and into the vortex, shredding them into pieces.

"Thank god I didn't put too much power into that or else that might've started a natural disaster," Aether quips as he watches the tornado dissipate leaving nothing left but condensed slime residues. 

« Can you even call it "natural disaster" if you started it? »

'What do you mean? I am natural," Aether simply says, a bit too open-ended on purpose. 

« Yeah, I know »

"You know?" Aether isn't suppose to be the one that's confused, Lou was.

« I know »

And before Aether can interrogate Lou yet again, something suddenly stops the conversation from continuing or it somehow changes into a different subject. This time, however, it is Paimon commenting on how great Aether's powers are.

"These are the Anemo powers you got from the Statue of The Seven!" She says as she appears from the clouds of stars, "Aww... Paimon's so jealous! Why doesn't Paimon get cool fighting powers!? Especially since Paimon treats them better than you."

« Maybe it's because you're tiny »

Paimon gasps, "Paimon's size has got nothing to do with Paimon's ability to hold power!"

"Alright you two, time out," Paimon pouts when she hears Aether say that, "so we're going to Mondstadt next, right Paimon?"

"Right, the city is full of bards and merchants, and their culture is very closely tied to keeping stories and tales alive, Paimon is sure if someone has met your sister there, someone can tell you all about it!"

"Well then, let's head off to Mondstadt," Aether says with his resolve and heads out towards the city that's on a lake. He follows the winding road that, he assumes, leads to the city of Mondstadt, never straying far from it. He takes this time to admire the scenery around him whilst Paimon lectures him with Mondstadt's history and culture, specifically its culinary (he can guess Paimon's a big eater with the amount of food name she's spewing out right now). Lou adds more detailed information here and there, Aether's glad the two of them are getting along now. He knows Lou was just teasing Paimon — having been with them for far longer than he has been with Paimon, suffice to say he's more used to Lou's comments than Paimon's voice — however, he also knows that Lou's words can be a bit mean sometimes, even if they didn't mean it. Apologise all you want Lou, but a wound is still a wound!

« I know… »

"You can hear my thoughts?" Aether questions, honestly surprised.

« I can hear how your very mind works, how do you think we communicated via mindchat? »

"I thought I was projecting my thoughts onto you," Aether answers honestly.

« Nah, I was already able to read your mind from the beginning »

"Wait, did Paimon just hear that you can project your thoughts?" Paimon looks at Aether with starry eyes.

"Yeah? What about it," Aether gives the fairy a wary yet curious look.

"Can you do it to Paimon? Paimon wants to know what that's like," she says innocently.

This… is not something that Aether thought he would ever hear in his entire lifetime (and his lifetime's long, mind you). Usually people would be afraid of him, afraid of his mind tricks or being hypnotised or mind-controlled by him in some kind of way. They always torched him and his sister in flames, which is why he has gotten quite numb to the scorching fire. He's actually usually comfortable with staying quiet and letting his sister talk for him and communicate his wants and needs through this means. Maybe…

"Are you sure?" Aether tests the water, "aren't you afraid I'm going to mind control you or something?"

"Paimon's been with Aether for two months now, if Aether wanted to do something bad, he would've done it by now," Paimon clasps her hands behind her back with trusting eyes she looks at Aether, "so Paimon trusts Aether."

That actually touched Aether's heart (he's sorry Lumine but he may or may not have just adopted a new little sister). "Well… if you say so," Aether finalises before he takes a deep breath and channels his connection with Paimon's mind, linking them together.

"Can you hear me?" Aether looks at the white-haired girl expectantly.

"Woah! Paimon can hear you clearly just like Lou!" Paimon adds, "although you have a bit of echo in your mind, unlike Lou, who just sounds like they're constantly next to Paimon."

« That's because I am always here y'know »

"Paimon knows that! But not seeing you in person always trips Paimon off," the girl pouts, "what happens if someday you suddenly appear and Paimon wouldn't know you're actually physically next to Paimon because she's so used to having you as a disembodied person?"

« Then it'll be the fright of the year »

Paimon kicks the air angrily, "that's not what Paimon wants!"

Aether chuckles at the two's shenanigans as he looks at the sight in front of him. Honestly, it feels nice to know that he's not the only one that can hear Lou — although seeing is still out of the question — and it's a lot nicer now that he has someone to confide in with his telepathic communication (minus Lou's because they're always been able to do that, but they're just a nuisance)

« Hey! I can hear that you know »

"Good, 'cause you were supposed to," Aether says also with a pout, wanting to join in the banter.

If Lou were to reveal himself again like last time, Aether is sure to see him pout like a baby, he can clearly hear it in their voice.

« I hate you »

"I know you don't~" Aether teases as Paimon laughs at Lou's misery, the sight of this brings back so many memories of when he and Lumine were still together, adventuring the universe, world from world. Aether takes a deep breath… then another…

"Hey Paimon…," Aether calls out.

"Yeah?" Paimon replies as she flies closer to Aether, "what's wrong?"

"Can you keep this a secret from everyone else? And my name… I'd rather have people not know," he tells the fairy, you can hear his voice wavering, hesitant of losing.

"Why not?" Paimon crooks her head sideways.

"It's just that…," Aether takes his breath, "I… just don't trust the people here yet, but I trust you, both of you, so that's why I want to tell you guys my real name."

Aether continues his words, "if anybody asks who I am, just say I'm 'the Traveller' or just say ȶʀǟʋɛʟʟɛʀ, okay?"

Paimon nods feverantly, feeling happy, honoured and proud to have been trusted with Aether's secret. "You can count on Paimon to keep your secrets safe!"

« I, too, will also keep my promise. Your secrets safe with me »

"Thank you, everyone," Aether gives a genuine smile as he lets out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "Could I also ask you for one more favour, Paimon?"

"What is it?" crooks her head yet again.

"I don't like talking to people and…,"

"Oh, oh! Paimon knows about this one, don't worry, Paimon will be your voice to the people. Paimon understands, you don't need to explain yourself!" Paimon braves herself and flies in for a hug.

Aether, who didn't know he was touched-starved up until now, melts into the touch and holds the fairy closer. "Thank you," he whispers.

« Let's make camp here for now, it's already getting quite late »

"Paimon agrees! Paimon's heard that there are a lot of monsters that come out at night and attack people left and right!" Paimon makes a small "epp!" at the sound wind brushing against the leaves. Aether guesses she has successfully scared herself with her story.

« There's a dock near the entrance of the forest, although there are monsters occupying the area so be vigilant »

"Alright Paimon, keep out of sight while I deal with this," Aether says as he gives Paimon a head pat before she disappears. He quietly sneaks to the front of the camp, hiding behind a tree to get a closer look at the situation. Creatures with fluffy mane…? And what seems to be a mask are around the area, one of them — the red one — patrolling the entrance.

« Those creatures are called Hillichurls. They are beings who are cursed by Celestia, the gods above. Those who sits beneath the throne that lies in the sky »

Aether looks in front of him at the evening sky and sees the island that he was once at. So that's what that place is called…

« However intelligence these creatures still hold, right now they are aggressive and they are in our way. You know what to do »

Aether brandishes his sword, a dull and old one he found inside of a treasure chest a Seelie led him to not so long ago. He silently approaches the camp from behind, aiming to kill the one near the campfire first before going for the patrolling one. He kills them quietly with one slice before aiming to kill the archer that was at the dock. Aether is glad that the guy hasn't noticed anything amiss. With a single touch, the last of its kind disintegrate into black smoke, leaving nothing but their masks behind.

« Keep them. You might need them »

Aether doesn't know why he would ever need these masks but he keeps them in his infinitely large inventory anyways. It's not like he's running out of space. With a camp settled and waters nearby, Aether can easily procure dinner for the night by fishing out on the dock. Paimon has gotten out to grab more sticks to add to the small campfire those Hillichurls creatures had made. As the moon shines above his head, and the stars twinkles on ahead, and the world continues to revolve, he sits there in reminiscence, lost in his thoughts and memories as he usually does whenever he gazes up into the night sky. The glimmering atoms in the sky bursting with heat so hot that it produces light; and the sky so vast and so empty that it appears black, devoid; and a certain melody from a distant memory starts to play as he subconsciously hums. The fire crackles in the background, Paimon and Lou exchanging stories and tales about this world, Teyvat, as time passes on. 

"Where are you, Lumine?" Aether calls out onto the universe… but nobody replied.