⁜ lover's oath, collector's edition ⁜

¤{aether-- "so, the fairytales are true."}¤ PT.2 of "lost archon."

hi :) 

 this is a second part to {archons-- "they don't mention the lost archon."} if you have not read it yet, i highly suggest doing so! this might not make much sense if you don't.

warnings: mentions of war

-aether goes to seek out the next archon, despite the rumors holding him back.-

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"so, from paimon's understanding, this archon is...dead?" aether's little assistant presumed, but the adventurer only shook her head, lowering her worn-out journal. "no, not exactly. after the archon war, someone found the crown they always wore in a pile of dirt and ashes, but there was no body, so it was assumed that they went missing." the woman explained, and the traveler lightly nodded, a hand resting below his chin. 

"well, thanks for sharing! we'll be going now, bye bye!" paimon exclaimed, waving with a wide smile before pulling aether aside and whisper-shouting to him. "well, what do you think?"

he shook his head, thoughts dancing around his mind. he needed to find out more, but the only way to do that would be to travel, and he worried it wouldn't be worth it. he decided the only way to truly know, was to talk to the other archons about it. 

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"oh! fancy seeing you here, traveler! what brings you to mondstadt?" the anemo archon inquired, a small smile on his lips and a shine in his eyes from the sun. 

"well, we need to visit the cryo archon, y/n, but have no idea whether they're even alive or not. either way, we'll probably end up traveling to their region, but it would be helpful to gain some insider knowledge. anything you can tell us?" paimon asked, tilting her head as she softly fluttered up and down. 

"ah...yes, y/n. we all loved them. they were truly magnificent with their elemental powers, and although being one of the most powerful among us all, they also held the most compassion and adoration for others, even humans. truth is, we don't know where they are, either. the most i can tell you, is that the chances of them being alive are quite...split." he explained, and paimon furrowed her brows. 

"how so?"

"well, they were very clever. see, when we were little, we would play hide 'n' seek. but, y/n was always the last one to be found. somehow, they had a natural talent for hiding. and they were serious about it, too. sometimes, they wouldn't come out of hiding until hours after we started playing, and they'd be really tired, and hungry. we were ordered to stop playing hide 'n' seek, but they got better and better at hiding over time." he explained some more, but paimon still looked confused. 

aether spoke up, "so, what are you saying?" the bard looked at them, eyes sad. 

"i'm saying, that the probability of them being alive is higher, because they love to hide. they could even be residing in their own village, like me. no one knows, not even us. zhongli won't have any information, but ei might know more. her and y/n were close, and she was the last person to see them alive." venti suggested, and the traveling companions nodded, walking away. venti picked up his lyre, taking a deep breath and sighing before continuing his music. 

"off to inazuma we go, then!" paimon exclaimed. as aether followed, he couldn't help but wonder if this archon really was out there somewhere.