In the End (A Genshin Impact One-shot)

In the End.

War... War never changes, Aether notes. Of all the worlds he's visited, of all the cultures and riches and life he's seen, war never changes. It's always just torment and screams and cries of attack and death. He would be in the thick of it too, if not for the glowing translucent gold barrier between the battle and where he is. The barrier placed by his sister, who is looking at him with a smile that doesn't meet the harsh glare she has.

They stare at each other for what seems like eternity, Aether straining his ears to hear what's going on around him, not willing to take his eyes off of her, not again. Outside the impenetrable barrier, Vision wielders and warriors of different cultures and birthplaces clash with abyssal monsters and hilichurls of all shapes and sizes as they fight desperately, trying to hold the unending horde back. Everyone here has something to lose, everyone has something they are protecting, as they fight monsters that infect every surface they touch with corruption.

His sister speaks after a long moment, barely heard over the cacophony of war around them. "You've completed your journey. Do you now see the world as I do? I would hate to have to leave again." It takes a long time for him to respond, his head swirling with feelings foreign and familiar.

"You never left me before, in our travels you always insisted on being together, and now it changes?" His voice is soft, his words hesitant. He hears a scream he could swear he recognised, long and painful as whoever it comes from writhes in pain, maybe even dying. He... He can't bear the thought of it.

"The moment I complete my revenge, the moment this all ends, we can leave this world behind, wouldn't you like that?" Her tone is sweet, friendly and... And just how he remembers her speaking to him on sunny days, in sunny meadows on countless worlds. He... He wants to return to those days, where it was just them, and adventure. But he knows it will never be like that again, not for a very long time at least.

"How do... How do I know you wouldn't leave me again?" His voice is hopeful, yet still quiet. Her voice takes a sickly-sweet edge, and she responds.

"I know because we wouldn't ever have to be apart again, nothing could separate us once, it will never separate us again. We leave this accursed world and move on to the next, like nothing ever happened... You would like that, I'm sure."

Aether finds himself agreeing. What if they just left the world behind and went on to explore countless more worlds? Teyvat is just one of an infinite number of others, but something... Something made it special "But what if I don't want to leave? What if I'm perfectly happy to live here for a while, enjoy life, explore the world and live in a place I can call home." Images of all the people he's met, saved, fought, enjoyed, mourned and Lived with flow through his head.

Amber. (The first person he really met, after two months wandering in the wilderness, how she greeted him with well-practiced words.)

Klee. (He remembers the time she called him Older Brother.)

Bennett. (The boy he had spent time with, laughing with him about his misfortune, admiring his passion for adventuring when it seemed like fate itself was against him, consoling him when he gets overwhelmed by it.)

Jean. (Helping her get to sleep after a long day(s) of work.)

Diluc. (Fighting alongside Kaeya, their brotherhood on the mend, if the flashes of red and blue are to be trusted to his right.)

Kaeya. (He's fighting his own countrymen, forced to pick between his country and his family... A choice rather similar to Aether's own, he reckons.)

Venti. (The lonely god with too many bad memories, fighting corrupted gods alone in the skies above the clashing armies.)