Eat me, guts and all: Aether x Scaramouche

End of the first adventure: Aether POV

         As me and Xiao walk, what he said previously still weighs in my mind. I have no idea what kind of solution we can come up with this time. Maybe some actions are really irreversible? I pause and wonder if I should let things stay as is but I don't think it's fair for the people of Liyue to be the consequence of Xiao's actions. Xiao turns to me and I'm not ready to meet his gaze.
         "Scaramouche isn't completely innocent either."
         "Don't do that! Don't involve him in what you did.. He's done some fucked up shit but that has nothing to do with this."
          Xiao just grunts and continues walking. I look around and see how far liyue has come. I wonder if it'll ever develop like this again.
           "What are we supposed to look for?" I say because we've been walking for a while now and Scaramouche has probably gotten restless by now. I miss him.
          "I don't know... I can't remember why this moment may be important."
            Xiao's eyes wander across the pier. There isn't nothing out of the ordinary and it's weird for the girl to put us here of all places. There's an old lady on a mat weaving a fishing net and Xiao shows seems to have recognized her. He takes a small step back and groans.
           "What?" I ask and he doesn't reply.
            He doesn't need to because I see the Xiao from his past approach the lady. The lady raises her head and gives him a warm smile.
            "Are you here for your fortune?" The lady asks and Xiao nods. Xiao doesn't seem very friendly in his past too. The lady gives him a gesture to follow her and they both walk to her fortune shop. The walking is like those of ghost, it was if it was sped for  us.
           The lady lays out a deck of cards for him, "I knew you'd come around eventually. Even if it only took you 20 years." Xiao looks at the lady the same, expressionless.
          She flips the cards and reads out the future, "Very soon a special adventurer will come to you, keep him close. He's the one who will save Teyvat." She stares intensely at Xiao, "and you."
         Xiao doesn't seemed satisfied with that answer, "anything else?"
         "Patience. That's all you need." Her intense stare seems to be placed on me, "patience."
          He still looks dissatisfied because he disappears. Xiao does that a lot when he's confronted with the truth. He runs away.
            "You cannot change the past but you can always fix it with the future," she says as she flips the cards back.

         We start to dissolve and my vision goes black.
         

          We're back at the ocean field and the atmosphere is just tenser. Scaramouche just glares at Xiao and pulls me closer to him. He must've not liked my choice to follow Xiao into his memories. But I don't care because it's gotten us closer to the truth.
         "What the hell happened." Scaramouche says. I don't have enough time for their arguments or fights.
         "I'll explain on the way. I don't know how much time we have left."
          I don't have an answer especially because I don't even know what the answer is for. I'm still trying to piece everything together and I don't have time to deal with either of them.
          I basically stomp over to the waypoint ignoring both of them bickering behind me. I can't hear what they're saying but I hope Xiao told him everything as I don't have the energy to give an explanation.
          We travel to liyue and I turn to Xiao.
          "Do you think you could take us to the mountains? Going with you would be quicker but I can get there without you also."
          "Yeah I can.. I can still be use to you Aether, you know what right?"
          "Right." I don't know anything to say but that. He grabs my hand and Scaramouche's to take us to the mountain. The mountains were my favorite part of liyue and I don't know how much longer it'll last. With everything that's been going on.
           The view and the rocks that surrounded the pond in the middle. It always seemed separate and peaceful. Somewhere you could go to air out your head with no distractions.
            I see Zhongli and shock is ridden all over myself face. I thought he wouldn't even appear since he hasn't shown himself at all during all of this. He turns his head towards us.
           "I was waiting for you."
           "What took you so long?" Scaramouche says harshly. I don't even interrupt him because I've been wondering the same.
            "I had to make a decision. It was hard and it took me a while to think. Do I let Xiao live with his decisions or help resolve this situation entirely? I wonder. I wonder if it was worth what I'm about to do. But now I've decided that it is.." He says and he goes closer to us, "I ask myself, when will Xiao ridden himself of the guilt of being the sole survivor. Then he met you.. and I thought everything would be fine. But greed knows no bounds, and I should've taken that into consideration."
            I look at Zhongli with confusion but I look at Xiao and I see his face turn pale. He must not be used to Zhongli talking about him that way.
           "It was great knowing you, traveller and all the companions you have given me the pleasure to meet. Now I must give Xiao his last saving grace and the people of Liyue their righteous ending. Something or someone must be sacrificed and it's the only righteous thing to do."
           "Zhongli.."
           "Please do not say my name, I do not want to rethink my decision. I've been here for too long, I've become too desensitized and separate from my human emotions. The people here already know what to do without their archon. I have nothing left to do or prove. So please, do not hate me for what I am about to do."
          As he says that Xiao screams in agony not from pain but from the loss he is about to experience. Zhongli starts to fade away and the beauty of the mountains is not enough to distract me from the horror in front of me.
        "I hope the memories of me are not too horrid. Do not force someone's hand to make the decision I just made. Good luck."
        Zhongli erodes. It feels like time just stopped but it was the very opposite. Everything resumed and the trees started to blow the right way. It wasn't fair and Xiao knew it and Scaramouche knew it. I knew it. Just like that Xiao walks away and vanishes. He must need time to process it on his own.
        "Aether?"
        "Yes?"
        "Are you okay?"
        "I am. Why?"
        "You're crying."
         Oh. I didn't realize the tears that rolled down my cheek. Scaramouche always knew me better than i knew myself. So he hugs me and it felt like our souls were intertwined. I could feel his pulse and he could feel mine. I could feel his breath and he could feel the wetness from my tears. The world can be so cruel and unfair. The people of liyue didn't deserve to be stuck on a loop, but couldn't we have gone about in a different way?
        "It's not fair right?"
        "It's not, not at all!"
        "But Xiao got his consequence, didn't he?"
        "How?"
        "He lost the first person to ever care that much about him. Is there anything worse than that?"
          I look past the mountains and I see the city that glistening under it. Blissfully unaware of the sacrifices that were made for it to continue to prosper. There is probably no greater love than a creator and its creation. Love requires sacrifice and I know that. It still doesn't get harder for me to get reminded of that time and time again.
         "Scaramouche?"
         "Yeah?"
         "Could we have done anything different? So no one could have been hurt?"
         "Yes. Probably. Most likely. What do you want me to say to that? I'm not going to waste my time on, 'what if'. A lot of people waste their short lives on that and guess what, you'll never know what if. What's done is done, we live with it and move on. Zhongli made his decision and we should respect that. So let's go."
         "Go where?"
         "Home."
         "I don't know where that is anymore."
         "It's fine we can always make one.. together."
         "Together?"
         "We'll always be together as long as you want me by your side. I'll go on as many crazy adventures with you. I'll bring you tissues every time you feel like crying. I'll carry you whenever you're too tired to walk. I'll sacrifice the world and whatever I have for you. I'm not asking you to do the same, just for you to have me by your side. So let's go home."
            "Okay.. I like that idea."

End of chapter 1.

AN: hello! I hope you enjoyed chapter 1, maybe I shouldve given a warning for zhonglis future erosion or something! But don't worry too much about that :) and Xiao will come in all the other chapters too so don't worry about that either. It was great making these first few parts and I wanted to go in this part more and answer some more questions on the girls backstory but I think I'll do that in the next few chapters. Scaramouches and Aethers story is far from over so stay tuned!