Rising Winds Festival Pt. 19

"You should stop drinking now. I wouldn't have stopped you when you're dueling me but this is just sickening to me." Aether said holding Eula's hand under the table. Eula was standing while trying not to fall. Her head was spinning, and her face was very red.

" No..... I must gwo on.... Vengeance willllll be mwineeee..." Eula said drunkenly. Aether squeezed her hand tightly and looked at her worriedly.

"This is not a duel Eula. Please end this or I'll knock you out." Aether said seriously. Eula had tears welling at the corner of her eyes. She drank her mug of wine, some flowing out of her mouth and staining her clothes a little. She slammed her mug down.

"I.... I did my besht...." Eula said cutely and fell forward. Aether reacted instantly and caught her. The crowd gasped in shock.

Aether laid her head on his knees. She looked at him and growled cutely. " I'll get you next twime!" She said and closed her eyes.

"Well. That's it. Barbara! We need you here!" Aether shouted out. Barbara immediately ran over and checked on Eula. After a while she nodded to herself and looked at Aether.

" Eula is fine. She just fainted from all the drinking. Honestly I don't even know why she joined this." Barbara said. Aether smiled and picked her up.

" Where can I lay her down? I don't want her to sleep on the streets." Aether said.

" Oh no it's fine. You still have a competition to compete in. I can do the heavy lifting." Barbara insisted.

" I insist Barbara. It's going to be done in a minute. " Aether said smiling brightly. Barbara sighed.

" The Cathedral. You can put her in the patient room. She can rest there. " Barbara said. Aether nodded and disappeared instantly. He appeared in front of the Cathedral and walked to the patient room. He put her on the bed gently and kissed her forehead.

" Rest well Eula. You can find me later. " Aether whispered and disappeared. Unknown to Aether, Eula unconsciously smiled at that. Aether appeared besides Kaeya again. Who was there looking bored out of his mind.

"Was it that easy?" Aether asked amusingly.

"Not even a sweat." Kaeya grumbled. Aether chuckled.

"Next up! Aether the Dragon Slayer versus Kaeya the Cold One! " Charles shouted. The crowd cheered. Aether and Kaeya looked at each other and smiled.

" Good luck out there. " Kaeya smirked and went to the table.

" I don't need luck. I just need a strong resistance. " Aether said while smirking back and went to his side of the table.

" Sure. " Kaeya muttered.

" This time wmthe contestants will be drinking our bar's second most potent drink! The End. " Charles shouted. The people cheered loudly. Each of them cheered for their own contestants.

"Well. Someone's definitely getting out." Aether muttered and the waiter served him and Kaeya their own mugs filled with The End.

"On your mark! Get set! Drink!" Charles shouted and they started drinking.

After a while Aether and Kaeya started to get red in the face. It seems that they aren't completely immune to alcohol.

"You know..... I once thought that the bard Venti.... was a female.... I found out his gender and I wasn't shocked.... " Kaeya said without thinking. The crowd laughed.

" I mean..... the braids make you decide.... And why even wear that hairstyle.... You got most people including me and Kaeya thinking that you have female genitalia.... " Aether said drinking more of The End. The crowd including the women giggled. Venti twitched his eyes in annoyance

" I'll drink to that." Kaeya said raising his mug and clanging it with Aether's. They both drank it passionately and slammed the mugs down at the same time.

" So what's next?....." Kaeya asked while looking down at the table.

"What do you mean..... I don't understand...." Aether replied confused. Usually he would reply immediately but the alcohol is messing with him.

"I said what I said..... What are you going to do next after this..." Kaeya asked again. Aether gave a thoughtful look....

"Finish the job...." Aether declared much to the shock of everyone.

"Yeah right.... You got into a one week coma when you fought Stormterror.... What makes you think that..... that you're going to defeat him this time?" Kaeya asked skeptically.

" Obviously I'm not going to do it alone.... Ot am I... I don't know..... What matters is that.... it won't terrorize Mondstadt and its citizens anymore..... " Aether said seriously and turned to the crowd

" I know that some of you lost family, loved ones, children, husbands, everything.... And I know that.... saying sorry won't ever bring them back.... That is why I'll kill it... That is my promise to you.... " Aether declared loudly and raised his mug.

" Are you drunk..... Or are you actually taking this seriously....." Kaeya asked while drinking The End even more

"Of course I'm taking this seriously Kaeya..... Alcohol can't stop me from protecting people.... If I have the power.... I would use it to protect those who can't protect themselves.... You would too if you were me....." Aether said while smiling a little. Kaeya nodded slowly.

" Yeah.... I think I would do just that.... you better not forget about this the next day.... Teyvat Daily is going to have a field day..... " Kaeya said and they drank silently. The crowd watched in silence as none of them spoke. It wasn't even like a competition between friends, it's like a drink between brothers.

After a while, Kaeya couldn't take it anymore.... He sat down on the ground.... looking at it without speaking a thing..... Barbara ran over immediately to check on him.

" Is he going to be okay?...." Aether asked feeling concerned about him.

" Yes he is. All he needs is a good sleep and some water. Come Mr Kaeya, you have to rest now. " Kaeya nodded slowly and got up slowly. He walked to a bench and sat on it without speaking a word. Barbara looked at him worriedly. Diluc showed nothing on the outside but was feeling worries about his adopted brother.

" And the winner.... Aether..... Congratulations on winning the semi finals.... Please rest for a while.... " Charles beckoned Aether to sit on a bench. He nodded and sat on it. The crowd clapped respectfully without saying a word.

Aether blocked out the sound of Charles calling out the next contestants and pondered on his situation.

"Paimon.... You there...." Aether called out to his best friend and traveling partner.

" Yeah Paimon's here. That was some speech you gave there Aether. Paimon was very affected by it. " Paimon replied. Aether's nodded.

" I wonder.... Should I go to Liyue? " Aether asked for her opinion. Paimon was silent for a while. She finally answered.

" Why? " She asked.

" I want to find a Geo Archon Statue there. I'm going to do the exact thing I did with the Anemo Archon's Statue. " Aether replied confidently.

" Oh that's why.... Paimon thinks you should go for it. You only have two elements in your repertoire. One more couldn't hurt right? Plus, they say that the Geo element is the most destructive element in Teyvat. " Paimon said while shivering herself.

" I could imagine why. You could create earthquakes with a thought, drop meteors from the sky with a single look, throw mountains at people with a single flick of a finger. With a lot of hardwork and creativity, you could go a long way. That makes me want to get the element even more. " Aether replied getting a sinking feeling himself.

" Paimon suggests you do it after this competition and you get sleep. She doesn't want you to walk in the forest drunk on alcohol after all. " Paimon suggested. Aether nodded his head deciding his final decision.

"Starting tomorrow then. We'll take one more step in becoming the strongest in Teyvat." Aether said to himself. Paimon didn't reply.

"This is the final round! Will Aether the Dragon Slayer and Venti the Windborne Bard come to the table please! " Charles shouted but in a lower tone now. It seems that Aether's small drunk speech had got to him. The crowd clapped their hands and cheered a little.

"Time to win." Aether thought getting a determined face and got up from the bench he was sitting on.

To be continued.....

(I changed the time Aether needs to meet Venti to next Saturday. Because there's no way he could go from exploring Liyue to teleporting back to Mondstadt. The real world doesn't work like that.)