Mortal Chains (Albedo x Aether)

Ch. 2 Side Quest

(3rd person POV)

Albedo finished his Chicken-Mushroom skewer and tossed the stick onto the ground, he had no care for cleaning up, especially in Mondstadt, a place so well known for forcing his friend to do work for them. Aether glanced at him, his amber eyes piercing into his own. Intimidated, and a little worried, he bent down and picked the stick back up. He watched as Aether's expression changed from angry to relaxed.

"Excuse me, Traveler? I need your help." Said a stranger. Albedo looked away from Aether to see who the unfamiliar voice came from and saw a young girl, picking nervously at her nails. Aether perked up as he turned towards the girl, his expression was that of pure worry.

"What is it?" Aether asked the young girl, crouching so he was at the same height as her.

"My brother... He's lost. We went exploring and... And we found this snowy place. I thought it would be a good idea to explore.." The girl began, tears forming in her bloodshot eyes, she must've been crying before she came to the traveler. "It got cold really fast and then started snowing. I tried to call out for my brother but... He didn't respond." The girl burst out in tears, likely feeling responsible for the disappearance of her brother.

Aether's expression softened, he knew all about losing a sibling. He patted the girl softly on the shoulder and spoke. 

"We'll get your brother back. I promise." He stood up and motioned towards the gate of Mondstadt. "If you don't mind, could you lead us to where you first saw all the snow?" Aether asked her with a gentle, encouraging smile.

Albedo watched silently as the girl nodded and began walking towards the gate. He turned to Aether, frowning.

"Do you think her brother might be in Dragonspine?" Albedo asked Aether, his voice at a whisper so only they could hear. Aether nodded and slowed his pace so the two would be further away from the girl to speak without her hearing.

"Most likely, the only other place filled with snow would be too far for those kids to get to." He explained, turning away from Albedo and jogging to the girl as they walked out of Mondstadt. The alchemist followed behind.

A short while of walking later, the three of them were at the borders of Dragonspine. The wind howled, snow began to cover the grass which died from the cold. Albedo looked at Aether, his brows were furrowed with worry. Aether shrugged it off and looked down at the girl.

"Alright, we'll go look for him, you just wait over there," Aether told the girl, pointing to a large camp he knew had people that would watch over her. "There are really nice people over there, tell them the traveler sent you to be watched by them, alright?" 

The girl sniffled and wiped the drying tears off her cheek. She turned towards the camp and began heading towards it.

Albedo turned to look at Aether. "How exactly are we meant to find him?" 

Aether just shrugged and walked into the snowstorm. Albedo followed quickly behind. He knew his clothes were made for this weather, Aether's were not, he began to worry for the traveler. As he cold whipped through his hair, he threw up his hood and continued to walk behind Aether. Soon enough, the two came across a group of Hilichurls and Samachurls. Albedo stepped forward to attack, sending bursts of geo towards as many of the Hilichurls and Samachurls he could reach. He and Aether battled them for a while, the enemies of Dragonspine were often stronger than those of warmer climates.

When the battle finally ended, the two searched the camp for any hostage little boys. They found nothing.

"He most likely wouldn't be very far from where we entered Dragonspine, a little boy couldn't possibly get that far on his own. We've just got to look around." Aether explained, he began to look, behind barrels, near torches, and campfires. Albedo split off on his own, searching in similar places Aether was. The alchemist came across a group of Fatui, 5 large crates just outside of their camp.

"Aether!" He called out just as the Fatui began to attack. Albedo blocked heavy swings with his sword, then sent a burst of geo from a crystalized flower to attack the Fatui. Aether joined in, the two attacked the Fatui, side by side. Every so often a hit would mark the Fatui with orange crystals and harm them a little more than what they expected. Working together, they slashed, hacked, and stabbed until the remaining Fatui were killed. The two caught their breath and checked their injuries. Albedo was covered in scratches, burns, and more. Aether was less injured but his lips were blue, worryingly so. They still needed to find the little boy, so Albedo let it go for now.

They heard a quiet, terrified whimper from in between the large crates. Albedo crept towards the crates, slowly, and cautiously, he peaked over one. To his relief, a young boy with bright blue eyes stared up at him from in between two large crates. Tears had frozen to his cheeks. Aether helped the boy up and Albedo took off his coat, wrapping it around the boy who was definitely not dressed for this weather.

"I've got you, it's okay now," Aether soothed the boy. The three of them began heading back to the camp. Aether was shivering, he was keeping himself close to the boy to reserve body heat that he was obviously losing. It looked like he was going to keel over any minute now. Albedo kept an eye on Aether, but since the man hadn't asked for help yet, he didn't do anything.

When they reached the camp, the little boy rushed over to his sister, dropping Albedo's coat to the ground in the process. The siblings hugged each other tightly, sobs escaping both of them. 

Finally, they separated, and the girl turned to Aether. "Thank you so much, Traveler! I don't have much to give you in return, but I do have a sweet flower!" The girl exclaimed, handing Aether a trampled and frozen sweet flower. Aether took it, a delighted smile on his face, despite doing all that for nothing. Albedo leaned down and grabbed his coat off from the ground. 

Aether swayed, his entire body shivering. He stumbled towards Albedo, and the alchemist stepped to his side to keep him steady, wrapping his coat around his frozen friend.

"You two go back to Mondstadt city, find your parents," Albedo told the children firmly, wrapping an arm around Aether's waist and watching as they skipped away. He looked at Aether with worry, his skin was ice cold.