Regret (Aether's Story)

Chapter 3 : The Starfall and the Alchemist

Rinedottir was born into a kingdom shadowed by misfortune. Khaenri'ah, nestled deep within the hidden crevices of Teyvat, was a land without gods, a place where men and women fought against the odds with their own hands, minds, and will. Yet, for all their struggles, they were a broken people. Poverty etched itself into every corner of the kingdom. The streets were lined with crumbling stone, and its people lived on hope that faded with every harsh winter and every failed harvest.

From a young age, Rinedottir had understood that the world was cruel. But her heart, even in her youth, burned with a conviction to change it. She would become an alchemist, not for her own gain, but to bring prosperity to her homeland. If the gods would not answer their prayers, then the art of alchemy would.

Her early works were modest—finding ways to purify water, creating tools to improve farming, and curing common illnesses. Yet, these small victories brought her little satisfaction. Khaenri’ah’s wounds were too deep for simple remedies.

“There must be more,” she whispered to herself one cold night as she pored over ancient texts by the dim light of a flickering candle. “There must be something I haven’t seen yet. Something that can lift us from this despair.”

But as the years passed, her achievements began to feel hollow. No matter how hard she worked, the kingdom remained poor, the people weary. Her dreams of prosperity seemed increasingly out of reach.

---

One night, as she wandered outside the city’s walls to clear her mind, her gaze turned upward. The stars above were brilliant, scattered across the velvet sky like shards of diamond. They were beautiful, yes—but distant, unreachable. For the first time, Rinedottir felt her resolve falter.

“Perhaps we were never meant to rise,” she murmured bitterly, her voice barely audible over the wind. “Perhaps this is all we’ll ever be.”

And then, as if in answer to her despair, the heavens shifted. Two streaks of light tore across the sky, blazing trails of gold and silver. They fell, brilliant and unstoppable, until they disappeared beyond the horizon.

Rinedottir’s breath caught in her throat. It felt like the stars themselves had come to answer her unspoken plea. Without a moment’s hesitation, she ran toward the falling light, driven by a curiosity so intense it drowned out her doubts.

---

The forest where the stars had fallen was strange and otherworldly. The trees, with their silver-veined leaves, cast an ethereal glow under the moonlight. It was here that she found them—the source of the celestial brilliance.

One was a boy, his golden hair shimmering faintly even as his expression twisted in worry. In his arms lay a girl, her matching golden hair dull and lifeless.

Rinedottir stepped forward, her voice trembling with equal parts awe and caution. “You… you fell from the sky.”

The boy’s head snapped up, his golden eyes narrowing as he stepped protectively in front of the girl. “Who are you?” he demanded.

“Rinedottir,” she answered simply. “An alchemist. I… I saw the light. I had to know.”

The boy hesitated, his expression softening ever so slightly. “I’m Aether,” he said at last, glancing down at the girl in his arms. “This is my sister, Lumine. She… she needs help. Please, if you’re an alchemist, you must know something.”

---

Rinedottir brought them back to Khaenri’ah, and so began a partnership that would change the kingdom forever. Aether shared knowledge unlike anything she had ever encountered—concepts of technology and energy that seemed almost like magic but were rooted in science and logic.

Under his guidance, Rinedottir and the kingdom’s alchemists created devices that revolutionized agriculture, purified the air and water, and brought light to the darkest corners of the city. The once-crumbled streets were now bustling with activity, the people’s faces no longer hollow with despair but glowing with newfound hope.

Rinedottir herself became Aether’s most devoted disciple, absorbing everything he taught with an insatiable hunger. Her dreams of bringing prosperity to Khaenri’ah were no longer just dreams—they were becoming reality.

---

But as Khaenri’ah thrived, Rinedottir’s curiosity grew darker. The knowledge Aether shared was vast, but it was not enough. She began to delve into forbidden texts, ancient and obscure alchemical theories that spoke of creating life itself.

“If we can build machines,” she reasoned, “why not living beings? Why not perfect creations that could protect this kingdom forever?”

She worked in secret, experimenting late into the night in hidden chambers far from Aether’s watchful eyes. Her creations were small at first—simple constructs of flesh and bone animated by alchemical energy. But soon, her ambitions grew. She sought to create beings with will and purpose, capable of reshaping the world.

Rinedottir knew the risks, but her thirst for knowledge outweighed her caution. She told herself it was for Khaenri’ah, for its people, for their future. Yet, deep down, she felt the pull of something greater—a desire to surpass the gods themselves.

---

Aether, meanwhile, remained oblivious to her growing obsession. His focus was entirely on Lumine, who remained suspended in a glass chamber, her condition unchanged. He poured himself into his work, hoping that the knowledge he shared with Khaenri’ah’s people would one day yield a cure.

“Rinedottir,” he said one evening as they worked side by side, “I think… maybe this place can be our home. Lumine would want that. A place where people can live without fear or despair.”

Rinedottir smiled faintly, though guilt twisted in her chest. “Yes,” she murmured. “A place where no one will ever suffer again.”

---

Her experiments, however, were not without consequences. The lifeforms she created were imperfect, their existence a violation of Teyvat’s natural order. Some escaped her control, bringing harm to the land. Whispers of strange occurrences spread through Khaenri’ah, though no one suspected their beloved alchemist.

Rinedottir’s greatest sin, however, lay in the power she uncovered. In her pursuit of perfection, she touched upon knowledge that should have remained buried—knowledge that could shatter the fragile balance of Teyvat.

And though she told herself it was for the good of the kingdom, the truth was far more complicated.

For Rinedottir, the alchemist who once sought only to save her people, had become something else entirely—a seeker of forbidden truths, a creator of wonders and horrors, a woman who dared to dream of a world without gods, even if it meant destroying the one that already existed.

To be continue..