Others

We went back to the others and told them the situation. I even told them that it wasn't as if this was way back in the past of this reality. No, it was in the same period of time that our reality was in. They asked me how I can be sure of that and I told them that I saw a few familiar faces.

"I doubt it. Even if the faces are similar, it might be another person entirely. It might be their ancestor or something." said Eula. I shook my head.

"I looked at their life energy and it completely matches the ones in our reality."

They all fell silent. Fair reaction, it was quite shocking knowing that this may be the same world they know and yet it feels foreign. Barbara, being the cheery girl that she is, broke the silence.

"Isn't this better? I know it's a bit different than what we know, but that's better than something we don't know at all, right?"

"I guess you're right…" said Jean with a sigh.

"That's the spirit!" I said as I hit Jean's back lightly. "Still though, this is rather troublesome."

"It is…" said Havria as she continued clinging to my arm.

Jean and the other two girls looked at us in confusion. I explained to them that since this reality has copies of other people that we knew, then that also means their copies exist as well. Their eyes widened in realization.

"Havria is safe from that. Me, however, am not."

"It's quite unfortunate, but it seems we won't be going anywhere near Mondstadt soon. Maybe even Liyue, since some people there know us there. Especially Barbara." said Jean with a sigh.

"I have a solution for that."

They asked what it was and I simply smiled. I snapped my fingers and the area behind me cracked. The rift quickly expanded, consuming us all in the process. Havria's hold on me tightened as her eyes closed in fear. It was so tight that it actually started hurting. Holy shit, that hurts. Note to self, she may be a weak god, but she's still a god.

'Bear it Aether, you're a god now, right? Or at least that's what Zhongli told me, but just accept it.'

When did that happen you may ask? Well, it was just before we left for Mondstadt. Zhongli said that I should be even more careful now since I have divinity within me. Although, he said that I was only a low ranked god. Not that I wanted to be a high ranked one anyways.

Her hold on me loosened when she opened her eyes and saw that there wasn't any danger. I softly patted her head as the others gasped in awe.

"What is this place?"

"My personal Realm."

"Your wha-" Eula was about to ask before Jean and Barbara covered her mouth. "Don't ask. Just accept it. He's ridiculous like that," said the sisters in unison. I could only chuckle at them.

"Glaze Lilies…" whispered Havria.

"Ahaha, I knew you'd like it. I made this place like this just for that reason." I said as I smiled at her.

"Hon…" she whispered as she hugged me tightly. Luckily, she didn't use too much force this time. "I love you so much!"

"Mhm, I love you too." I said as I returned the gesture.

After that interaction, I left them in the Realm and began on my way. Of course, I gave them things to do. Like some cards and a tea set that I readied beforehand. Since I can't really enter Mondstadt, I decided to just head for Liyue. The chances of me meeting my counterpart there is low, right?

I slowly ascended and headed on my way to Liyue.

—

Lumine doesn't know how she got into this situation. One moment she was just travelling to Liyue again with her Knights of Favonius friends for some business, the next they were being attacked by the Abyss Order.

At first it was quite easy, just some Hilichurls. However, the three Abyss Mages soon attacked as well, also bringing along two Stonehide Lawachurls with them. With the combined attacks of the Mages and Lawachurls, they couldn't get an opening nor can they get a breather. Suffice to say, they were struggling.

'How long has it been? 20 minutes? 30?' Lumine thought.

She looked around and saw that some of the knights were already down. Jean* and the others were holding on, but she doesn't know for how long. It was clear that they were getting tired from continuously dodging the attacks as well.

She gritted her teeth and summoned a meteor from the ground, trapping the Abyss Mages inside.

"That should hold them off for now. Everyone, focus on the Lawachurls!"

They all nodded and dashed towards the closest Lawachurl from them. Noelle*, Lisa*, and Amber* were the closest to Lumine. Noelle* shielded herself while Lisa* and Amber* worked together to break the Lawachurl's shield. Lumine helped the two with a Swirl reaction.

"Graagh!" the Lawachurl screamed as it's shield was broken, staggering all the while.

Noelle*, having arrived at the Lawachurl just as the three broke it's shield, stabbed her claymore at the stomach of the beast. The Lawachurl groaned in pain, before turning into black dust.

"Phew!" Amber sighed in relief.

Lumine looked to her side and saw that Jean*, Kaeya*, and Eula* just finished off their target. She was about to relax until she heard something appear beside her.

"You!" The Pyro Abyss Mage screamed at her as it charged it's shot.

Her eyes widened, seeing that the meteor this Abyss Mage was trapped in was melted right open. She couldn't dodge, she was too tired. She doesn't have enough time to use an Element as well.

'No… I still haven't found Aether yet…'

However, the Abyss Mage suddenly stopped channeling its attack as a black arrow pierced it's head. Her eyes widened as she slowly turned her head at the arrow. It turned into black flames and as she looked at the now fallen Abyss Mage, it was consumed by the flames as well. It didn't even turn to the usual black dust.

She heard screams. She looked at the direction of the screams and saw that the other meteors were slowly melting away from black flames that were coming from within. It seems even they were not spared. Finally, she looked at the direction where the arrows came from.

There, she saw a figure. He had blonde hair that was tied in a braid. He was wearing a white coat with a black undershirt and dark blue pants with black boots. He was there, floating as he held his bow. The bow looked familiar. It was like the bow of a certain green bard. However, Lumine was more focused on the individual than the bow.

She knew him. Of course she did. This was the very person she was searching for. The very person she was thinking of just a few seconds ago. She opened her mouth, finally saying his name.

"Aether…"

—

Ah, I was almost late for that one. If I arrived just a second later, Lumine would have died. Speaking of Lumine, hey I found my sister! She may be another version of her but fuck it. I totally wasn't holding any tears or anything. I saw her looking at me with wide eyes, so I just smiled at her.

I made my bow disappear and slowly descended towards her. She was taking staggered steps and when I finally landed, she tackled me with a hug. I was taken aback a bit, but I recovered quickly and returned her hug. She sobbed and I did my best to comfort her. I wanted to cry as well, but I stopped. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of so many people.

"Traveler? Who is this?" asked the other version of Jean*. Lumine didn't respond so I just spoke in her stead.

"Hey there, the names Aether. I'm Lumine's brother."

They all gasped in shock. I couldn't help but chuckle. I knew exactly what they were thinking. The Traveler's brother? The one she oh so looked so hard for? It was the same situation in my world after all. Only difference is, I was looking for her.

After a few minutes, she stopped crying and looked at me closely. Especially my eyes.

"What's with those eyes? Did you get contacts or something? Wait, are there even contacts in this world?"

"Ahaha, it's rather complicated…"

"I'm all ears."

I sighed and explained what these eyes were. Not just that, I also explained to her how I was from another reality. She was shocked of course.

"So wait, in your world, I'm the one who's missing?"

"Yep, pretty much."

"Dang…"

I chuckled at her. The people surrounding us seemed confused. Seeing how it's safe to reveal these sorts of things, I told Lumine to wait for a bit. She agreed and I opened my Realm once more, only me entering this time.

"Are we at Liyue already?"

"Even better."

I explained to them what happened and they were shocked. Of course they were. I then told them that I'll introduce them to their other selves and they agreed. Except Havria of course, since her other self was gone. Havria stood up from her seat and hugged my arms again. I snapped my fingers again and we appeared at the exact same spot where I entered earlier.

Lumine was sitting on the ground while being healed by the other Barbara*. They looked at us and, of course, were shocked.

"Wh-what?" said the other Barbara*.

"Hi~" said Barbara.

"You seem quite adept at this." I said to Barbara.

"Why of course. I see myself a lot on videos after all. Not to mention the fact that I've read tons of stories like this before."

That explains a lot. The reactions of Jean and Eula to their other selves were quite hilarious. Both of them were quite embarrassed at the choice of clothing. Jean saying hers were quite tight while Eula saying hers were too revealing. Their beet red faces were too cute. I was smiling at them. Well, until Havria pulled my cheeks. I looked at her and saw that she was pouting. I only laughed nervously.

"Aether? Who is that girl?" asked Lumine as she raised a brow at me.

"Oh right. Havria, this is Lumine, my sister." I said as I gestured toward Lumine.

"Hello there~ Nice to meet you, Lumine." said Havria with a smile and a small wave, still holding onto my arm all the while.

"And Lumine, this is Havria, my wife."

"Oho~ Am I going to be an aunt soon?" she teased. I smiled.

"Yep!" I said. Her eyes widened.

"Wait, seriously?" This time, Havria answered her.

"Mhm, I've been pregnant for quite a while already."

Lumine just sat there, shocked. Ah, I knew this was going to be interesting.