✧𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ~ 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃~✧

✧Aether- Memories✧

A/N- Whoever made this beautiful fanart, you are a legend, and you should feel special because your art talent is great.

(all of you should feel special because y'all are beautiful. i do not lie. everyone has something that makes you beautiful, and so do you, even if you don't see it yet. i just had to activate motivational Asha mode for a minute because so many people do not know their worth, myself included, and i needed to let everyone know how beautiful they are. <was about to slip my real name out there during the motivational Asha mode sentence, let's not give away my personal details like that lol. i'll tell you my middle name though. it's June. i wasn't even born in June but it's a nice name anyways. if you want to call me by a different name, that's closer to my real name.>)

YOU WERE A huge comfort to Aether.

Ever since he had lost Lumine, he had been having nightmares every night. Some were worse than others, but they all had disturbing imagery and included Lumine suffering in some way. Aether, being the protective and loving big brother, was terrified by this imagery. Some nights, he would wake up screaming out Lumine's name, and the images of the grotesque monsters he saw hurting his sister stayed in his head for many days before fading away.

After he had nightmares, he would always come to you. You were his saving grace. You would wrap your arms around him and say soothing things to him. Sometimes you would even sing lullabies to him if he was having a hard time to sleep. To him, you were an angel from Celestia, and he valued you too much to let you go.

Then one day, the unthinkable happened.

When you were on your way to visit Aether in Mondstadt, you were abducted. Nobody knew by who, or why. They assumed it was the Abyss Order, but they were too lazy to investigate. When Aether heard that you had been abducted, he fell into a deep depression. In his depression, he didn't accept help from anyone, just locked himself up in his room and cried over pictures of you.

After three years without any news of you, he was beginning to get used to not seeing your beautiful face when he woke up. The fact that you had been abducted and taken from him so easily still cut him deeply. His nightmares now were mostly of you joining the Abyss Order and him having to hurt you. Lumine, his sister, had joined the Abyss Order, and he knew that he needed to hurt her to be safe, but he could no longer live if he had to kill both you and his sister.

One fateful day, Jean Gunnhildr, the Acting Grand Master of Mondstadt, informed Aether that there was an Abyss stronghold near the city, and for the city's safety, the Honorary Knight must clear out the stronghold. Ever since they had taken you, Aether had enjoyed fighting the Abyss Order. They were formidable foes, but every enemy he took down he saw as the Order paying their penance for hurting you.

Little did he know, in this particular stronghold, a nightmare of his would be fulfilled...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Princess, your brother is attacking the stronghold. Our men are reporting large losses. Shall I order a retreat?"

"Aether is attacking?" Lumine said, sounding confused. "I thought he knew not to meddle with the Abyss. Y/N, end his life for me, please."

"As you wish, my lady. Long live your reign."

You took your polearm and headed right to where Aether, the Honorary Knight of Mondstadt, was rumored to be. When you saw him, you felt a weird emotion bubble up in your stomach. You recognized the emotion as love, but you didn't know why you felt any love for this man. He was killing your comrades and trying to crush your order. Why would you be in love with him?

When your eyes met, Aether tried hard to hold in his tears. The Abyss Order had crafted your beautiful body into a monstrous mistake. Your legs were covered in magical talismans that made you move faster, but the speed was pulling your skin from your muscles. Everywhere on your legs, there were bloody gashes and exposed muscle and bone. On your neck, he noticed a pain nullifying charm. That explained why the gashes didn't debilitate you. And your eyes...

Your eyes had been torn out and replaced with artificial magic ones. The magic ones gave you an ability similar to Aether's Elemental Sight, but instead of seeing elemental traces, you saw footsteps and heat traces of people. Your real eyes were in a small jar of vinegar that you wore around your neck. And your fingernails had been torn off and replaced with metal claws. You were a combat masterpiece, but you could hardly be considered yourself, at least not to Aether.

"I have come to annihilate you, Aether, brother of Princess Lumine," you said, flipping your polearm this way and that.

"Y/N... don't you recognize me?"

You could tell from the tone of the young man's voice that he was heartbroken. Could it be that he was someone from your past life, someone that you had loved?

Enough, Y/N, you fool, you chided yourself. He is an enemy to the Princess. Therefore his life must be extinguished.

You dived at him, stabbing at his chest, and he just barely managed to dodge you. Whatever the Abyss had done to you, it made your attacks very fast. And Aether didn't want to attack back. He just wanted to dodge. He didn't want to hurt you unless it was necessary.

"Please, Y/N! We were lovers before the Abyss did these terrible things to you. You need to remember!"

He was crying now. Why was he crying? He wouldn't react this way unless you two were really in love, right? Or was that just your mind tricking you?

"I don't remember loving you, Honorary Knight," you responded, charging at him again.

"You have to believe me!" Aether sobbed. "Call back your memories of your life before the Abyss? Do you remember the nights we spent sleeping together, and the early mornings we spent dancing in the flower fields? Please, Y/N, my love, I don't want to hurt you!"

When those specific memories were mentioned, you felt a hidden part of your mind unlock, and all the memories of your relationship with Aether popped out like a jack-in-the-box. You cried out from the shock of being reunited with your one and only true love, and fell into his arms, breathing in his comforting scent and crying against his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Aether," you sobbed. "I couldn't remember you."

"My love... I love you so much, you know that right? You remember?" Aether asked.

You looked up into his soulful brown eyes and said, "Yes, my love. Always and forever, I will love you."

You and Aether linked hands and, together, you walked out of the Abyss Stronghold, never to return again.