Paimon's woe

2. Paimon's breakdown?!

The Mitachurl grabbed Paimon's body. From this point, Aether needs to be careful as to not accidentally injure her.

Paimon's frightened face has angered Aether. He couldn't deal with them normally. He needs to advance carefully and think about how to turn the situation around.

The mitachurl's grip tightened. Paimon's terribly hurt from the strength of that grip. Tears have started to flow down from her eyes.

Aether needs to be quick. He dashed towards the enemy and was about to slash the shield that the mitachurl was holding, but was interrupted by the other two hilichurls. He totally forgot that there were two of them left.

Aether was pushed back by both of them. He then hurriedly dashed sideways to target the mitachurl behind, but the enemy dashed towards him with its shield on. The impact was big.

He would've pushed back the enemy harder, but the fact that Paimon is being held hostage prevents him from doing that. The grip is tightening, and that made Paimon let out a whimper.

"A-Aether. Hurry!" Paimon's hurting.

He was about to use Palm Vortex to blow away the two hilichurls to make room for the fight, but was interrupted by an electric bolt.

She swept both of the hilichurls. The surprise attack caused both of the hilichurls being flown away towards the middle of the beach.

Aether was surpised and so was the mitachurl. He used this moment to take advantage of the confused mitachurl to stab it on the back.

The mitachurl screamed in agony until it laid down, dead. The grip has loosened.

"Fuaa~" Paimon sat on the ground, crying. Aether hurriedly picked her up.

"It's okay. It's over now," he tried to calm down the little pixie, though she doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. He hugged her and lightly patted her head.

"Are you guys okay? I was taking a stroll near the beach until I heard a scream." She asked.

"Everything is fine. Thank you for your help, Keqing." Aether replied.

Keqing, the Yuheng of Liyue Qixing, is one of the leader for Liyue harbor. She is the main figure among the citizen alongside Ningguang, her partner. Business across Teyvat were handled by the two of them. Rules and safety of the citizen are also dealt by them, hence the millelith organization.

"Well, it's natural that I would help anyone around me, especially a dear comrade who is in need." Keqing said.

"Either way, I'm worried about her." she points her finger towards Paimon who was hugging Aether's clothes tightly while shaking.

He is also worried about her, but he felt that something was off. First of all, she never got hurt when they ventured and fought many enemies in the past, not even a hit. Also, she didn't get hurt THAT bad, but she is shaking intensely despite the fact that she has already seen him fight many times. Is she scared of harm, or did something happened while he didn't realize?

"Paimon, are you okay?" Aether asked with a gentle voice.

Paimon didn't say a word, or to be precise, she can't. She lightly nods her head while sobbing.

Aether pats her head lightly to stop her from sobbing. After a few minutes, she fell asleep.

"Hehe, this is the first time I see you take care of her like a newborn baby. It feels like you're a young father." Keqing giggled.

"Well, she has helped me immensely during my journey here. This is the least I could do." He said while stroking her hair.

"Though, this is the first time I've seen her act like this."

Keqing suddenly furrowed her eyes.

"As I suspected. The way she acts when she was hurt, how she was badly shaken by the incident, she probably experienced something worse than this. It's just that this little incident has caused her to remember something terrible, maybe?" she said.

"So in short, trauma."

"Precisely."

It seems plausible. After all, she was suddenly uncomfortable when Aether talked about her life before she met him. She may have suffered a lot.

But another question arose. What exactly did she experienced before?

"I don't think I will find out about her past since she is uncomfortable about telling it to someone."

"No, I don't think so." Keqing smiled.

"Huh?"

"You may be the only one who can help her since you knew her longer than anyone, right?"

Aether looked at Paimon's face.

"Depends on her though. I won't force her to say anything as to not make her frown even more. I don't want things to stay awkward between us" he said. Keqing, who saw how he cares for his companion a lot can't help but grin a little.

"You really are kind," Keqing mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"N-nothing!" Keqing said frantically, hiding her red face.

They were preparing themselves to head back to Liyue. Though they had to treat Paimon's wound first. Luckily, Keqing is used to provide first aid for her.

"It doesn't seem like she got any bad injuries. You got yourself to thank for. Your actions may have saved her," Keqing said as she did a checkup on Paimon.

Hearing this, Aether was relieved. He wouldn't dare to imagine if Paimon got a severe injury from the battle earlier.

After she treated Paimon, they packed up their things and moved on to Liyue Harbor. Looking at the beautiful blue ocean, his mind relaxed a little. Walking near a beach with a woman seemed like a pipe dream for Aether, or that was what he thought in the past at least. But right now, she, the Liyue Qixing herself, was walking next to him as if they were on a date. Of course it would be a lie if he said that he didn't feel somewhat happy right now.

"So, I heard that you were planning to travel to Inazuma after the boarder there is open."

He nodded.

"You already knew about what's happening there, right? About how everyone's vision is confiscated by their archon?"

Zhongli has already told him about this before he departed. The situation in Inazuma is pretty bleak right now. The whole continent is probably uneasy about the decision as they can't defend themselves against enemies. Hence, one of the reasons why the border is closed.

"Yeah, but I don't really have a vision, so I have nothing to worry about. I think you already noticed that I don't have one."

It's true that she knew it just by looking at him. At first glance, when she met him near the Guizhong Ballista, the one Aether and Zhongli repaired, she couldn't believe her eyes. How did a person without a vision could fend off multiple units of millelith all by himself?

Although Aether has never told him about his situation, she doesn't pay any heed towards it. She do know about the missing twin, but that's about it.

Keqing looked rather worried for him.

"I'm feeling uneasy about this. I mean, I know that you are strong enough, given that you fought alongside me, but..."

"..but?"

She went silent for a few seconds.

"L-let's have a battle!"