It was quiet. There was no sounds except for the soft breathing and the humming of insects outside the window.

Aether cracked his eyes open, unable to sleep. A lot was on his mind. He didn't know where his sister was... or if he'd even see her again. But... he'd try. He would do anything to make it a reality.

He glanced down at the boy sleeping in his arms. A soft smile growing on his normally calm face. Aether gently ran his fingers through his bard's deep blue hair. It was messy and splayed all over the blonde's chest where he was sleeping.

The traveler let out a soft sigh and stretched his head down to give him a kiss on his forehead, "mm... love you..." he whispered.

"Love you too... now get to sleep..." Venti's tired reply sounded. He cracked open his sea foam eyes to look up at the sunset ones that belonged to a smirking face. "Ughhhh, what?" Venti questioned as he sat up, chin in his palm.

"Nothing... I just... can't sleep," Aether murmured, staring up at the ceiling with a deep-in-thought expression.

Venti hummed, "is it about your sister?" He asked, fully sitting up, holding the sheets up over his bare chest.

Aether nodded, "yes... I can't stop thinking about how she's feeling and where she's at... no one else knows about me being... well... immortal, besides you, Diluc, and Kaeya anyways..." he whispered.

"Mm..." Venti leaned down and kissed Aether's cheek, "well, I know she probably misses you as much as you miss her... she's probably also thinking of you right now," he had a smile on his face, "she's lucky to have you as a brother. You work so hard."

The traveler got a small grin and he wrapped his arms around Venti's waist and yanked him down on top of him, "who knew the Anemo Archon was such a sweet talker."

Venti laughed and kissed Aether on the corner of his mouth this time and smirked down at him, "why of course~ this archon can't let his number one worshipper down now can he?"

"No no, 'course not," Aether chuckled in response and tucked Venti's head into his neck, hugging him close. He never wanted to let go.

He wanted this moment to be his forever.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

"We found an Abyssal camp on the northern side of Stormterror's lair," Jean announced to the group of knights... and Aether... and Venti who tagged along wherever Aether went.

Aether frowned and held a hand to his chin in thought. He thought he had cleared out that lair a while ago.

Kaeya seemed to notice this puzzlement and nudged the blonde traveler, "I'm sure their sneaky little behinds waited until AFTER you cleared everything out. Perfect hiding spot with no enemies."

"Hmm... you're right," Aether agreed but his eyes seemed to disagree. Venti looked concerned but didn't say anything, choosing instead to focus on the attack plans. He wasn't as strong as before because he lost his gnosis, but he would still fight for Monsta- who was he kidding... he'd fight for Aether.

Jean took one more look around the room and her eyes landed on Aether, "we're leaving tonight at 18:00, are you in?" She asked him with the tone clearly fit for a guardian.

Aether nodded, "uh- yes, I'll be here," he assured her, touching his chest with a fist, a promise.

As the other's left the room he couldn't help but feel a bit... unfulfilled. Something was bugging him, and it had everything to do with his sister. He was sure of it.

A gentle touch on his arm brought the young immortal back down to Tevyat, "are you okay?"

Golden eyes rested on the sight of his concerned lover. He let out a breath and smiled softly at Venti, "I'm fine, just something his bugging me about this... it feels like it has something to do with Lumine but... what would she have to do with the Abyssal order?"

Venti's eyebrows furrowed and his grip tightened just the slightest, "how can you tell...?" He asked him.

"I just know... she's my twin and we have this connection. I was never worried about it before because I felt like she was okay, so I didn't mind helping out Tevyat... but now, it feels like if I go there... everything is going to change."

The bard hummed, which normally soothed Aether's negative energy, "I think you should just confront it. I'll be there with you of course so don't go thinking you're all alone in this," he mused, hugging his arms around Aether's. In these situations all he could do was shower his love with affection and hope for the best.

"Guess so..."

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

18:00 hit faster than Aether would have liked. He sighed and looked up at Paimon whom was floating around the room of the tavern, "Paimon thinks this is a bad idea... it's just a small group of you guys!"

Venti poked his head out from behind the changing partition, "you worry too much Paimon. Your all powerful and all seeing Archon will be there!" He mused.

Paimon didn't look impressed, "didn't this all powerful archon or whatever get his powers sapped? Or am I thinking of someone else," she teased.

The bard gasped in mock hurt, "oh how you wound me! Maybe I should just take a bite out of you, I bet I'll get some sort of benefit through it," he taunted right back.

Aether watched the bickering go on with a smile to his face. Meeting Paimon... it was like he gained a sister. She was annoying, yes, but she was also so important to him.

And Venti... just looking at him filled the traveler with so much love. He was amazed he even won over the archon enough to get him to agree with going on a single date with him. Here they were, almost a year steady...

A frown formed on his lips as he looked out the window. Which meant another year without Lumine... how long had he been here anyways...? Two years? Three? A hundred? It felt like time was going by too fast.

"-ther? Aether!"

Said blonde jumped- startled and looked back to see Venti looking at him all worrisome and Paimon seemed to be in the same boat.

"Ah- sorry you two... just spaced out," Aether apologized, hanging his head just slightly. He blinked feeling a flick at the top of his head and looked up to meet Venti's unwavering eyes.

"Come on stupid, let's go kick some Abyssal butt," Venti mused, gently grabbing Aether's hand and tugging him out of the room- Paimon floating close behind.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

It didn't take long to get to Stormterror's Lair, the long part was wandering around the ruins and trying to find the base.

Thankfully that didn't take too much longer either as they were ambushed as soon as they got near.

Aether and Venti did their usual tag team strategy. Venti giving them the ability to shoot up in the air and shoot from above and for Aether to either attack from below or float up and do a plunge attack.

This method always worked, especially since Venti could heal them whenever things got too dangerous. Too bad Venti's gnosis was stolen and he was slowly losing magic with each use- but it didn't matter. Not to him anyways. He would use the rest of his life to protect Aether.

Diluc sent a wave of flames at a hoard of Cryo Mages, he clicked his tongue and glared at all the ley lines that fell. "This is insane," he grumbled.

Ice shot past his head and froze a sneaky hydro mage in place. Diluc turned his head and saw Kaeya's smirking face, "aww what? I saved you," he teased- further annoying the red head.

"You're such a-" Diluc started but balled his fists and stormed ahead all pouty. Kaeya laughed and followed him making sure to tease him the whole time.

"AH-!"

"VENTI!"

Venti choked as he plummeted down to the ground, luckily Aether slid on his knees and caught him- wincing at the sudden weight and his knees digging into the ground.

"Ow- crap... are you okay?" Aether asked the boy in his arms. Venti was bruised up a bit and had some burns from Pyro Mages, he nodded in response.

"Well this is interesting."

Aether's eyes widened and he looked up startled. He felt his breathing stop and the world suddenly froze. In front of him... in the flesh... was his sister...

"Lumine..."

She smiled warmly and held open her arms, "Aether."

Aether put Venti on the ground and stood up, not caring that his knees were bloody and bruised. The bluenette looked up with shock on his face, "Aeth- wait-" something wasn't right.

Why was Lumine here? How was she here? This was the abyssal order...

Lumine hugged Aether tightly, "I've missed you," she murmured.

Aether felt like crying. He couldn't believe it! She was here! "Lumine! Lumine! How- what- why-??" He couldn't focus on anything.

She smiled brightly, "I'm so happy to see you again! Now that your here I can finally put my plan into motion!" She cheered.

"Plan...? What plan?" Aether was confused. It hadn't yet dawned on him...

Venti held his bruised shoulder as he shakily stood up, "Aether... she's the leader of the Abyssal Order," he informed, glaring at the blonde haired girl.

"No... she can't-" Aether looked horrified and met his sister's eyes, who didn't look all that fazed by Aether's obvious shock.

She gently ruffled her brother's hair, "he's right, I am the leader, but... I've been here for 500 years trying to find you and to find a way home," she informed him.

"But- why? You've hurt... so many..." Aether hated the sour feeling in his mouth and the way his chest tightened.

Her matching sunset eyes looked at him seriously, "Aether... you know we lost so much power, we can't ever make it off this planet. We can't travel, we can't fly, we lost our wings... our magic... our weapons... we've lost EVERYTHING..." she told him.

Aether looked confused and he furrowed his eyebrows. Lumine walked around him, in a circle, "I've figured out a way to get our powers back. To retrieve our rightful place as gods..."

"How... how would we do that..?"

Venti gasped, "no! Aether! Don't listen to he-" he squeaked as he was silenced by Lumine pressing the tip of her sword against his chest. She had a fixed glare.

Lumine's face melted as she looked at her brother who was deep in thought, "easy, we take all the gnosis we can from the archons on this planet. Use the combined elements and remove the seals placed on us," she answered him, her eyes shining.

"Their... gnosis..." Aether bit his lip harshly, "but wouldn't- wouldn't they die??" He questioned, his head hurt...

"They won't die. They'll just lose their magic after some time," she replied easily, "besides, if they get in our way we can get rid of them without a hassle once they're powerless."

Venti wanted to cry out to Aether... he wanted him to know he didn't want him to go down this path... but he couldn't voice his feelings with a sword threatening to run him through.

"Besides, it's not like they're your family. I am, I am the only family you have and you should care about," she gently put a hand on his shoulder, "Aether... I've missed you... I want to go home with you... to travel worlds... it's just a small price to pay to get what we need..."

The reason seemed to snapped in Aether's mind and he looked at Lumine with a painfully twisted expression. "I've missed you... I want to see the worlds together again..." he choked out.

She grinned.

Venti shouted.

Aether had a tear slide down his cheek as he took one last look at Venti- the words "I'm sorry" written in his eyes.

Then they were gone- in a cloud of smoke.

Venti was left on his knees, staring at the place his true love once stood... his eyes wide and mouth dropped open in distraught. A scream tore through his throat, filled with so much sorrow that it shook the ground, made the stone pillars crumble, and any living thing around him tremble.

The Anemo Archon's heart was shattered and he had nothing left. Nothing to give. He couldn't bring himself to even try to gather up the shards to glue back together. He was...

Done.

Venti's breathing was labored and he couldn't hear any of his comrades calling his name- he only heard the ringing in his ears as he kept crying and screaming... but Aether wasn't there. He wasn't coming back.

"Venti! VENTI!"

The bard snapped out of it. He looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks as he made eye contact with Diluc, "h-he left... he's not coming back!" He sobbed.

Diluc frowned and his expression softened, kneeling across from him and hesitantly hugged him. He wasn't used to showing affection... but well... Venti had become an important person to him.

Kaeya, Jean, and Paimon stared sadly at the defeated archon, guilt shining in their eyes. They don't know what happened... but they knew it wouldn't be good.

It took a while for Venti to finally calm down enough to allow himself to be picked up by Diluc and carried on his back like a sobbing toddler.

The group walked in deafening silence as they made their way back to the Dawn Winery. Even Paimon wasn't speaking- which was a shock.

Venti's eyes were bright red and puffy from crying and his throat hurt so he wasn't in the mood for talking either.

No one was. They just lost one of their most valuable friend, comrade, and powerful ally.