Chapter Text
“Wow… This is the Golden House?” A cry of astonishment and unbelief resounded within the grand hall of the Mora mint as a pair of particularly well-known travelers entered through the behemoth double doors which stand faithfully guarding the marvelous and awesome sight of said hall from the greedy eyes of the outside world.
“It looked impressive enough from the outside…,” continued Paimon, “but who would’ve guessed that it was even fancier on the inside…,” continued Paimon, already drunken in fantasy. “And so full of Mora!!!” If Aether wasn’t so taken up by the gravity of the situation at hand, he definitely would’ve bonked the small forehead of his floating companion for the painfully obvious greed that practically emanated from her mere presence. A playful gesture, it may seem, but though it would’ve been a simple teasing between the two, it also would’ve been enough to refocus Paimon on the situation at hand and not towards the mountains and pools of Moras which lay tantalisingly attractive around them.
A quick eye sweep around the palatial hall of the Golden House showed him just why this building is reputed to be second only to Ningguang’s mighty Jade Chamber. Eight mighty dark pillars stood around the hall, tall and imposing, supporting the thick beams that held the roof atop their heads. Plating the beams are intricate designs made of gold, which, alongside the various lanterns precisely proportioned around the room, and the big glass lantern-shaped chandelier which hangs impressively at the centre gave it a majestical and, almost, heavenly atmosphere. All these were only to be outshined by the blinding glare emanating from the mountains of newly minted Mora lying around them, ready to be put into circulation into the vast, intricate web known as Teyvat’s economy.
What’s the real eye-catcher in the room, however, was not the huge pillars, nor the sea of Mora, but the half-dragon, half-lin Exuvia of the Lord of Geo that everyone in Liyue witnessed fall from the heavens during the Rite of Descension ceremony a few weeks prior. It was also the body that mysteriously went missing after the Qixing Tianquan, Ningguang, placed a tight lockdown upon Yujing Terrace and the surrounding areas following the apparent assassination of their beloved god, Rex Lapis, in a futile effort to prevent the assassin’s escape. Not to mention, it’s also the object- no doubt- sought after by the Fatui Harbinger, Childe, for its Geo Gnosis, if La Signora’s action towards Barbatos in Mondstadt is anything to go by.
Though Aether had mostly grown impassive towards any matters of wealth and glory through his countless years of traversing the different realms alongside Lumine and having seen all that worlds could offer, the same could absolutely not be said of his trusty companion. “This is where all of Teyvat’s Mora is minted, right? In that case, maybe they won’t notice if a few Mora go missing….”
Caught out of his musing, Aether turned towards his companion and, this time, actually bonked her head lightly, causing her to look towards him in accusative displeasure while holding her small hand over her forehead, attempting to rub the sore away.
“Touch a single Mora and we’re done for!” Softly reprimanded Aether. “Plus, if it were that easy, this place would have been emptied long ago.”
“Ooh, so it’s a trap.” Realised Paimon while retracting away from the Mora, no longer remembering the previous cheeky bonk tease. “Tricky tricky… Good thing Paimon’s got you here!” Added her appreciatively while doing her signature hand-pointing gesture while nodding her head. “But even if we can’t take any, we can still have a close look, right?” Said Paimon excitedly, floating around Aether, “Or better yet, take a nap on top of the mountain of Mora! It’s like a dream come true!”
Aether couldn’t help but smile at Paimon’s simple, childlike thinking and naïve thoughts, somehow reminding him of his and Lumine’s travels when they first started off many, many years ago, seeking to earn as much money and fame as their teenage ambitions could allow them. Though that was not even close to why they left their home world in the first place, it was still part of the process of growing up and maturing that one inevitably falls into the clutches of the love of money. And even high gods like Aether and Lumine could not and did not, escape from that fate.
“Something feels amiss here. We’d better check in the Exuvia first.” Said Aether, not getting any relief from the weight of discomfort sitting heavily on his chest.
“Oh, right! Back to business!” Replied Paimon somewhat sheepishly, seemingly embarrassed by how easily she was distracted by all the wealth and gold around her and had totally forgotten the purpose of their visit to the Golden House. “It’s quiet… Too quiet. Surely someone’s gotta be guarding something as important as the Exuvia.” Noted Paimon, an astute observation which Aether did not hesitate to be reminded of. “Huh!? Aether, look! What happened here?” Exclaimed Paimon upon seeing the unconscious Millelith guards scattered around the hall which prompted Aether to go and examine the closest guard in order to check for any pulse signals or any other signs of life.
“The Millelith… they’ve been knocked unconscious!” Muttered Aether. There’s a pulse. Faint and slow, but still present nonetheless. It seems that whoever did this was, in one way or another, no novice as they knew to let the guards lie prone in order to prevent suffocation. Plus the fact that they only knocked the guards unconscious instead of outright slaughtering them meant that eyewitnesses regarding their break-in was not a concern of theirs; which could attest to a testament of their speed, or it meant that the perpetrator had other bargaining chips against the Liyue Qixing and did not put them in their eyes. Both options are equally dangerous, and if the offender is who Aether thinks he is, he very likely possesses both speed and political power.
“Uh-oh, Paimon smells trouble!” Said Paimon worriedly. “Quick! We have to go make sure the Exuvia is alright.”
As they slowly traversed across the large hall, they finally lay their full attention on the corpse of the Lord of Geo who was hailed atop its altar, somewhat symbolic of Liyue’s worship of its Archon even after his evident death. Though lifeless, Aether and Paimon couldn’t help but marvel at the sight. Its majestic aura surrounded the corpse which, alongside the empowering pulses of energy that emanated periodically therefrom, faithfully shielded the body from any external harm and internal decay. The corpse truly gave no signs of its lack of life as it hypnotically spiraled up and down its golden throne. “This must be one of the effects of Adeptal energy after it has marinated your body as long as it has as is the case of Morax.” thought Aether, “It seems as if your body stays ‘alive’ for some time even after your death. It is truly as wondrous as they say.” And truly wondrous was the sight of Morax’s dark brown half-dragon, half-lin body, accompanied by its sharp, orange claws and glowing antlers of a slightly brighter shade. The pair continued their examination of the corpse, meticulously making sure that nothing was amiss… until the voice of the person they dreaded to find within the Golden House finally appeared from behind them.
“You’ve already fulfilled your task as guides, so why do you still linger here? Haven’t you already seen enough trouble for today?”
To this, Aether sighed and felt his heart drop as both he and Paimon turned around to finally face the expected Fatui Harbinger. He knew that he would inevitably cross paths with the Fatui, and even the Tsaritsa herself one day, and had long since mentally prepared for his meeting with the ginger on the battlefield ever since the day they met. And though a part of him knew that their ideology was just too different to warrant otherwise, the sting of betrayal didn’t hurt any less as, after all, he had spent a considerable amount of his time in Liyue running errands with and for Childe, and had even gotten to know him as more than a mere business acquaintance. He would even consider him a friend. So now that the time finally came, he knew what he needed to do but not how to feel about it. His warrior instincts, however, told him to ignore them at least until after the battle, and he knew better than to defy his instincts during a time like this.
“Huh? Who’s there?” Asked Paimon.
“Sigh, if you were Fatui, I imagine that you would be entitled to a generous reward from the Tsaritsa herself.” Mocked Childe, as he ascended the stairs leading to the golden Exuvia. “But now, you’re nothing but dross—and you’re in my way.” Aether knows this trick better than anyone else; it was plainly evident that Chile was trying to rile both him and Paimon up in preparation for their final battle. But Aether knows better than to let his anger cloud his judgement.
“Looks like I was just in time.” He replied calmly. “How did you find out it was here?”
“Hmm, where should I start?” Childe began, “Well, I’ve never been one to beat around the bush, you know. But who could have guessed that the God of Geo would mysteriously perish the very moment I arrived in Liyue and that the Exuvia would subsequently be hidden away? If it weren’t for that lovely little Rite of Parting ceremony you put together, it would have taken me a whole lot longer to get the information I needed.” And there it was, clear proof of Childe’s betrayal and the subsequent revelation of the hidden motive Paimon and he had suspected Childe harboured throughout this whole time. “Stopping the Mora mints, hiding away the Exuvia… Hahaha, the Qixing are really pulling out all the stops this time…”
“So you’ve been planning to take the Gnosis from inside the Exuvia all along!?” Cried Paimon in slight unbelief. Unlike Aether, Paimon was a mere child so how could he expect her to comprehend and process the poisonous sting of betrayal, much less put it aside temporarily much like he did? That being said, Paimon is handling the situation surprisingly well. Perhaps in her mind, Childe is still a fellow ‘friend’ and all this confrontation is merely just a clash in ideology, nothing more. Perhaps she thought that after the clouds blew away, they would continue being friends as if nothing really happened. A naïve thought it may seem, but somehow, it contained a degree of truth to it; this is a battle between two soldiers from two countries, fair and square, and whoever wins has the say in what happens to the Gnosis. At this very moment, Aether has as much of a chance to get his hands on the Geo Gnosis as much as Childe does, and it all boils down to the upcoming battle. Not to mention, even if Childe had successfully deceived both him and Paimon into revealing the location of the golden Exuvia, all is fair in love and war is it not? Thinking like this made Aether feel a little better about the situation.
“Huh, as one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers, it’s my duty to see the will of the Tsaritsa fulfilled. She will get what she desires,” said the haughtier of the trio.
“Not if I have anything to say about it. I will not allow you to get near the Exuvia.” And with that, Aether has successfully re-evened out the battlefield; now all it boils down to, is their personal battle prowess and their skilful use of deceit and tactics to achieve victory by. Any. Means. Possible.
Childe, holding the title of being one of the infamous Fatui Harbingers of Snezhnaya, was a highly respected fighter and individual within and- to some degree- outside of the Fatui ranks, which already serves as a testimony to his fierce battle prowess because, as everybody knows, that it’s only due of the Eleven that the Fatui can go around acting the way they do, doing whatever they wish.
Aether himself was not far behind though. The defeat and subjugation of Dvalin, one of the Four Winds of Mondstadt have earned him the title of the Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius; and while that isn’t as grandiose as the title of ‘Fatui Harbinger’, Aether himself is confident in his own battle prowess, especially since now he as has the ability to manipulate Geo energies alongside Anemo, a trump card he hasn’t revealed to anyone yet and if used correctly, might just give him an edge in the upcoming battle.
“Hah! I’m not asking for your blessing, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me anyway.” Childe riposted. “The time for discussion and diplomacy had already passed. I mean, if it were up to me, I would’ve skipped that stage to begin with… but I’m willing to do as the Tsaritsa deems fit. Either way—we now come to my favourite part. A simple pleasure, and one that I am oh-so-delighted to be sharing with you… the battle.”
Hearing this, Aether could not help but smile in anticipation. He had long since wanted to fight with one of the Fatui Harbingers to see if they truly lived up to their fearsome reputation. After all, he had heard so much about them, starting from Jean and Diluc, then Venti, and now Zhongli, so how could he not be curious? Plus, he needed to gouge out the rough strength of the Fatui in order to prepare for their inevitable face-off in the future. He got a rough idea from his last encounter with the Eighth of the Eleven, La Signora when she ambushed him and Venti outside of the Favonius Cathedral, but he couldn’t get his hands on a proper fight as he was promptly restrained and knocked out soon after she seized the Gnosis. So now that he finally has a chance to properly face one of the Harbingers, he couldn’t help but feel a little excited. It’s just as Childe said, it is a simple pleasure indeed.
“Battle? So you’re the type that goes looking for trouble, huh?” Commented Paimon snidely, unaware that her companion, too, felt the anticipation of the battle at that moment.
“Haha, you could say that,” replied the ginger in a tone of maniacal pride. “When Signora offended the deities outside the Cathedral in Mondstadt, she swiftly left the scene once her mission was accomplished. Instead of confronting you directly, she chose to rely on the snow and ice to make her escape. She wouldn’t want the Knights to come running towards the sound of battle, now, would she?” Although Aether did all he could at that moment of Signora’s ambush, he still felt slightly ashamed that he was so easily caught off guard. He often wondered how different things would turn out if he was able to fight back, or if Jean hadn’t decided to stay in the Cathedral, waiting for an opportunity to speak with Barbara. Would Barbatos still have his Gnosis? Would he even have arrived in Liyue in time for the Rite of Descension ceremony and for the events to play out as they had now? And though he did initially feel somewhat guilty and responsible for Barbatos losing his Gnosis, that feeling has slowly diminished in the time he spent in Liyue. But now, knowing the stakes at hand, that feeling of guilt slowly crept back on him in the form of a renewed fighting spirit for he knew that this was his chance to redeem himself by defeating Childe and preventing him from- too- obtaining Morax’s Gnosis. “When she (Signora) faces a worthy opponent, she will prioritise her mission, weigh the outcomes, and consider the consequences of her actions… But as for me, the greatest pleasure of being a Harbinger lies in crossing blades with strong opponents.”
“We won’t let what happened in Mondstadt ever happen again!” Declared Paimon angrily, in her- too- renewed spirit.
“Oh? So you intend to fight me? Good. I won’t kill you, Traveler. I’ll just play along—to feel the thrill of battle!” Replied Childe, clearly trying and failing to suppress the excitement and anticipation lighting his heart on fire. “Besides, you could never defeat me. Not even in your wildest dreams. But hey, try to relish the fight anyway. Because if you ask me… without that, what else is there?” He continued.
“I could never defeat you!? You’re completely delusional,” scoffed Aether. It’s true. Even if currently he only possesses a mere fraction of his original power, he is confident that it would be enough to defeat Childe, maybe even kill him if he tried hard enough (1).
“Ahahahaha! Fighting talk, I love it! Now, let’s see you live up to it.” And with that, the flint has been struck, the match lit, and the battle has begun.
“This chance is hard to come by, so show me all you’ve got,” mocked Childe as he brandished his bow and channeled Hydro element into his arrows. “So very few ever get the chance to square off with a Fatui Harbinger. So come now, amuse me… don’t you dare disappoint,” he continued as he fired his first arrow into the sky, causing a miniature rainfall within the hall, soaking the floor and turning the battleground to his favour due to all the Hydro energy it generated.
Aether didn’t dare underestimate his opponent, but he also didn’t want to go all out just yet because he knew Childe also didn’t, so he coldly summoned his sword and channeled Anemo into his sword, strengthening it and causing three of the seven previously dead and lifeless stars etched onto the surface for the blade to light up brightly one by one down the sword as the element fuelled it. Aether’s signature sword, The Sword of the Seven Stars was a parting gift from Jean when she heard that he and Paimon were continuing their travels to Liyue, and was a final gesture of her gratitude as the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius for his assistance in resolving the Stormterror incident. She had it specially made for him by one of the best and most trusted blacksmiths in Mondstadt, and had even used the remaining Teardrop Crystal, left over after the repair of the Holy Lyre der Himmel, for the foundation of the sword, ensuring that it could hold the elemental energy from his large reserve (2). To add the cherry on top, Barbatos personally blessed the sword and gave it the name of ‘The Sword of the Seven Stars,’ inspired by his own poem about Aether and his heroic deeds, in which he described Aether as being the morning star which cuts through the darkness of twilight and heralds the arrival of a new day.
Although The Sword of the Seven Stars possesses nowhere near the strength, power, and quality of his original sword, which he lost during his fight with The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, it would have to do for now until he finds his original sword. Its quality isn’t bad per se, it just doesn’t live up to his original sword. In fact, he even found this sword quite balanced and comfortable to use, and it even holds a special place in his heart because it was a gift from his first friends and family in Teyvat, whom he loved and valued very much.
The battle was quick and unusually easy as Childe relentlessly hurled insults at Aether throughout the battle such as, “so quick to flee,” and, “passable effort,” and, “cowering already,” all intending to bait Aether into making a mistake in which he can then exploit to Aether’s demise. But Aether wasn’t so easily fooled by his childish tricks. Chile also had a very unique battle style that Aether hadn’t seen before, making use of a combination of bow and twin dagger in its form to create unpredictability and versatility for its opponents and users, respectively. At some point at the end of his combination, Aether could’ve even sworn he saw Childe do a front flip and throw an arrow from his hands instead of shooting it from his bow. This was the unpredictability nature of Childe’s battling style which, Aether guessed, was his edge in battle. A very sharp edge indeed, though nothing Aether couldn’t handle.
All this while, Paimon was surprisingly keeping up with the speed of their battle and constantly staying close to Aether’s back where she not only wouldn’t get in the way of his fight but also where Aether could shield and protect her. It seems that he wasn’t the only one who improved during their travels, Aether thought in pride. Aether had warned her since the beginning of their travels to not fly off to the distance while they were battling since then Aether wouldn’t be able to protect her should an enemy threaten to hold her hostage.
At some point during their battle, Childe decided to take things up a notch and started to use his Electro Delusion alongside his Hydro Vision, causing the area around him to crackle dangerously as the purple lightning bounced from water droplet to droplet, traveling randomly around the hall and causing loud thunder cracks everywhere they go. He had also abandoned his bow in favour of an Electro-infused polearm and an even longer twin dagger. His speed also seemed to increase as he dashed forward at lightning speed, intending to skewer Aether.
Seeing this, Aether also didn’t hold back and channeled even more Anemo energy into his sword, causing another two stars on his to light up, piercing through the now thick fog that enveloped the hall due to the constant rainfall since the beginning of their fight. Aether knows that the illuminated stars on his sword will give away their position in the fog and make them easy targets for Childe’s quick polearm attacks, which are already difficult to dodge as is, let alone with the ever-thickening fog now clouding his vision, but he also knows that he can use that to his advantage in due time if he comes up with the right strategy. Aether also signalled Paimon to cling onto his back as he now had to also dodge the lightning speeding around the room, an action which Paimon did not hesitate to do due to how scared she was from the constant thundering cracks from said lightning.
Speaking of Paimon, the poor thing was scared out of her wits and now resorted to shutting her eyes tight and clinging onto Aether’s shirt like her life was dependent on it, which- in this case- it was. She hadn’t seen such a scary fight before. Before, in the countless other fights with Aether against the Hilichurls and Samachurls and other Abyss monsters, it had been relatively quick and tame, and though she had witnessed Aether’s fight against Dvalin the dragon she still found this a very frightening experience nonetheless.
Their battle continued ferociously, neither side giving a foothold, the fog was getting thicker by the second and the traveling lightning was getting numerous and difficult to dodge even for Aether. This was practically a playground for Childe as the rain and mist in the battlefield made a perfect condition for his Hydro manipulation and it paired perfectly with his Electro Delusion to boot. Up to this point, since he switched battle stance, he would be the one to initiate the attacks while Aether was practically on his back foot, forced to parry and dodge his advances until he thought of something. Aether knew that things would not end well for him and Paimon if he let this continue, but he just couldn’t think of something to counter with.
Childe, looking around the fog to find Aether’s location, preparing for another series of polearm pierces, saw the light from Aether’s sword swing wildly in the fog (3). Sometimes it would spin in circles, sometimes it would pierce aimlessly in different directions, sometimes it would swing sluggishly, sometimes it would stay still as if he was tired. Seeing this, Childe couldn’t help but smirk in victory. He knew he had won. He had successfully worn Aether out and it seems like now he was just swinging his sword aimlessly in the hopes of somehow landing a lucky strike on him. But Childe was smarter than that, wasn’t he? He was a Fatui Harbinger after all, granted he was the eleventh of the Eleven Fatui Harbinger, but a Harbinger nonetheless! So how could he lose to the likes of Aether, who was- no doubt- a novice? Of course, he wouldn’t! And now he would prove it by defeating the glorious Honorary Knight, hailed as the hero of Mondstadt. He would show the world why the Fatui Harbingers are so feared everywhere!
He waited until Aether’s sword stopped moving, a telltale of his fatigued state, then he lunged forward swiftly, effectively becoming one line with his polearm, ready to pierce straight through Aether and win their little battle. He wouldn’t kill Aether of course- he was his friend after all- but he would injure him just enough that he wouldn’t meddle in his business for the next month or two at the very least until he completed his mission in Liyue.
“Urgh!” Childe grunted as he continued his charge forward. At this speed and momentum, he could easily pierce straight through anything in his path be it stone or steel, let alone mere human flesh. However, what he didn’t know, was that Aether wasn’t mere human at all, nor was he where he thought he was. He kept traveling and traveling, never feeling the sensation of piercing through flesh, until he realised something was off. But before he could stop himself and properly analyse the situation, Aether rushed out from the cover of the fog, his right palm found its way toward the side of Childe’s head, and the Harbinger felt dread and despair like he’d never felt before. Be it during a battle or outside one, Childe prided himself in his unpredictability and quick wits in order to get whatever he wanted or out of trouble, hence he’d never found himself on the receiving end of an unfavourable situation in his many years as a Fatui Harbinger. And so now, for the first time, he felt as if Aether was the god of death, condemning him to an eternity of destruction and damnation.
Childe felt as if time slowed to a still, the water droplets around him stayed suspended in midair, the lightning stopped bouncing from droplet to droplet, Aether stood still like a statue, he himself stayed still as a statue. His mind whirled within his head, trying desperately to think of something, anything, to get himself out of this situation, to escape Aether’s indomitable clutch. All sound cleared from his head except for the piercing ring of absolute silence; it gave peace to his mind and a way for his mind to quickly think of a solution…
Until the deep, calm voice of Aether once again filled every corner of the now battle-scarred grand hall of the prestigious Golden House, “Are you done yet?” He asked emotionlessly, “Because I’m getting bored.” Aether then hardened his expression as the judge pronounced his final verdict.
“Wind Blade!” He shouted loudly as Anemo energy rushed towards his open palm, and thousands of sharp wind spiralled inwards as they funneled towards their destination. The fierce speed of the Anemo energy made them into tiny knives that created thousands of cuts into Childe’s face as they moved, causing him to howl in unbelievable agony. Aether put his all into this attack as he was certain that with Childe’s intelligence, he wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice, hence he made sure to give his all during this opportunity. The amount of Anemo energy gathering at Aether’s palm was terrifying, even in Childe’s fearless eyes. In fact, it was so much that when Aether clenched his palm to compress the Anemo energies, intending to throw Childe into a wall and follow up with a sword attack (5), instead of forming the usual push that he’d expected, the energy in his palm was so dense that a vortex black hole formed which absorbed all the mist and water particles on the battlefield, effectively clearing the once fog blanketed air. Aether clenched his teeth in order to keep control of the exponentially increasing amount of energy gathering in his palm, but when the lightning- too- funnelled into the black hole, following the path of the water droplets, it gave the spark to a massive explosion in the centre of the hall.
Both Childe and Aether widened their eyes as the explosion threw them back to the opposite ends of the hall, with Aether landing near the hall entrance and Childe landing near the Exuvia, effectively putting him where he wanted to be much to Aether’s dismay. Luckily, Aether reacted just in time in order to construct a Geo shield around him to absorb the force of the explosion, while Childe abandoned his polearm in favour of donning his mask in order to protect his face, which was closest to the explosion.
Paimon, seeing this unexpected escalation of events, rushed towards Aether’s side to check if he was alright (4). And much to her relief, he was. Childe, on the other hand, was left coughing out the dust from the explosion on his end of the hall.
Silence soon followed as both sides recovered themselves following the explosion, with only the sound of a whirling tornado spinning lonesomely at the centre of the hall, likely formed after the explosion by remaining Anemo and Hydro energy which was not used as fuel by the explosion.
“Good! No wonder Signora was so wary of you!” Came Childe’s voice from across the hall once everything has- once again- settled, and the tornado has lost its life and faded into nothingness. “I’ll admit that I’d underestimated you from the very beginning. Your swordsmanship and situational adaptability is, indeed, quite a spectacle to behold,” Childe continued as he crossed the hall, coldly retrieving his polearm along the way which was flung into one of the pillars as a result of the explosion. He then spun and twirled his purple polearm around him intimidatingly as he neared the travelling duo in an act to reinitiate the battle.
In this aspect was Childe really different from Signora. Signora prioritised her mission above all else, whereas Childe valued a good battle over completing his mission.
“But, that’s about as far as you’ll get.” He said one final time before lunging at Aether once more, taking advantage of his weaponless predicament in order to launch a deadly attack that he knew Aether could not defend against.
Aether snickered coldly at his opponent, then stretched his palm and gathered more Anemo energy towards it, effectively blocking his opponent’s advancements and locking them in a stalemate. He then swiped his leg back and manipulated some Geo energy to create rock spikes on the ground which travelled towards Childe, thinking that this use of his trump card would once again catch Childe off guard and finally secure him the victory. However, what he did not foresee, was that previously during the explosion, Childe had actually caught a glimpse of him constructing his Geo shield in order to protect himself; and despite all unbelief, he concluded that Aether had an unprecedented ability to naturally manipulate two elements instead of one. Sure, he could manipulate two elements himself, Hydro and Electro, but that is with the use of a Vision and a Delusion. As far as he knows, Aether didn’t possess a Delusion, and all previous reports of Aether stated that he manipulated Anemo energy in Mondstadt. Not to mention, he saw with his own two eyes during their fight that Aether clearly manipulated Anemo energy, so how is it that he can now also create a shield, which is a Geo construct? That led to him suspecting Aether’s natural dual elemental manipulation ability. He kept that information to himself until he could confirm his suspicions, however, hence the true reason for this seemingly unnecessary attack. He could’ve easily turned around after the explosion and grabbed the Gnosis straight from Morax’s Exuvia, which was just behind him, but instead, he chose to confirm his suspicions as, to him, getting stronger is far more important than obtaining Morax’s Gnosis at this moment.
In a way, Childe had already prepared for Aether’s Geo attack, hence when he saw Aether’s Geo constructs clear as day, he took the opportunity to abandon his polearm once again and create an explosion with propelled him straight back toward the Morax’s Exuvia and straight towards his Gnosis. After all, he still had a mission to complete. Since his curiosity is now temporarily satiated, and he knows that Aether would never reveal the secret of how he is able to naturally manipulate both Anemo and Geo elements, he decided to file that at the back of his mind for later use, and now move onto the mission of obtaining Morax’s Gnosis entrusted to him by the Tsaritsa.
When the dust cleared, Aether expected to see Childe in front of him, if not badly wounded by his ‘surprise’ attack. However, all he saw in front of him was Childe’s Electro polearm impaled into the ground in the centre of his Geo spikes.
Aether ran across the hall through the black smoke, towards the Exuvia, expecting to find Childe there, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Haha…,” suddenly came Childe’s victorious laugh from behind him.
Surprised, he turned around to find Childe standing on one of the Exuvia’s claws, much to his horror and disbelief.
“Didn’t think you had that card hidden up your sleeve…,” mocked his opponent, referring to his ‘special’ ability.
“You were just playing us to get close to the Exuvia!” Shouted Paimon in annoyance as she stomped her foot in midair, largely having already recovered from her scared and frightened state from the previous fight.
“Oh, quiet down. Stop acting like some wide-eyed recruit.” Retorted Childe. “You’ve seen this world. You of all people should know…,” he said morbidly while charging his right palm with Electro energy, ready to plunge it straight into Morax’s heart and retrieve his treasure.
“This should have been expected!” He shouted one final time as he did just that.
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Explanations of plots which you may have missed but also maybe not but I’ve decided to explain anyway because your author is such a compulsive freak and wants to make sure that their readers know exactly what’s going on in the story and all the underlying stuff:
1) When Aether concluded that his current strength was enough to, “defeat Childe, maybe even kill him if he tried hard enough, “ Aether did not think about killing Childe. It was only a figure of speech when analysing the power difference between two individuals. The rationale behind this was that to defeat someone in a fight is easy, but to kill someone was a whole different story because the other person could always use various secret techniques to escape before you can kill them. Hence if you wanted to kill someone, your power must be much higher than theirs in order to defeat them plus counter their hidden techniques. Hence when Aethers thinks he could kill Childe if he tried hard enough, what he is implying is that his power level might even be much higher than Childe’s if he was battling seriously like in a life-or-death situation.
2) What I meant by, “(Jean) ensuring that it (The Sword of the Seven Stars) could hold the elemental energy from his (Aether’s) large reserve,” is that… well how do I explain this? Ok, so when a Vision / Delusion wielder manipulates the elements, they are manipulating that elemental energy that already exists in the world and air around them. But when a Vision/Delusion wielder infuses their element into their weapon, they are using the elemental energy within their core to infuse it into the weapon NOT the elemental energy in the world and in their surroundings. I’ll explain this more later in the story when I come to that part. For now, just think of it as each person (Vision wielder or not) has a certain amount of elemental energy within them but only Vision wielders have the ability to access their reserves and channel that energy into their weapons. The larger your reserve, the more elemental energy you can channel into your weapon and the more elementally powerful your weapon will be. So, Jean making sure that The Sword of the Seven Stars is able to hold all of Aether’s elemental energy (which he has a lot of due to him having a ‘large reserve’) means that Aether can safely channel as much elemental energy into the sword as he wants without the sword cracking or shattering from all that energy (again, I’ll explain more on this later in the story). Disclaimer: This is only in my fanfic world, it does not exist in the real Genshin universe!!!
3) It was Paimon who was swinging Aether’s sword in the mist, hence when Childe went to pierce ‘Aether’, he missed because Paimon was floating and she was actually hovering above where Childe travelled through. It’s also why Paimon, “rushed towards Aether’s side to check if he was alright,” after the explosion even though she was supposed to be holding onto his back throughout the whole fight as previously mentioned; it’s because somewhere in the fight, Aether got Paimon to hold his sword and swing wildly in an attempt to deceive Childe into thinking that Aether was ‘tired’ and bait him into attacking like he totally did.
4) When Aether intended to, “throw Childe into a wall and follow up with a sword attack,” he intended to pick up his sword from Paimon and then do the follow-up attack.
