❥𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝙵𝙾𝚄𝚁

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The sultry rays of the sun beat down heavily onto the sand, warming the grains and making the cool water's temperature rise. The distorted distance made it hard for Aether and Paimon to look up, their gaze downcast as they traveled because the sun was that obnoxiously bright today, a nostalgic feeling arising as if they had experienced this phenomenon once before.

Each step Aether took sunk lightly in the sand leaving behind indents in the ground as the grains shifted under his feet, his long braided hair swinging behind him as he moved forward and attempted to put aside his exhaustion. Everything about this particular journey was overbearing in which he felt his senses become uncomfortably keen, like how he felt the weight of his hair shifting whenever he moved or how he could hear the chime of his earring as it swung with each step.

The mental and physical exertion he was putting himself through was unlike anything Paimon had seen recently, but she couldn't blame him, after all she was in a similar state of inner turmoil.

She herself had found she was in an energy deprived state, not even bothering to point out the crystal flies they had passed earlier since that seemed to be insignificant compared to their current dilemma. Normally she would have excitedly whisper yelled for Aether's attention to then go and catch them because they knew how valuable those small bugs were to him, but this was not the case.

Paimon glanced over at her companion who was way less talkative today, which he wasn't one to make conversation to begin with, but he usually made some effort for small talk. Glancing away, a saddened thought had pulled her lips downwards to form a frown as she contemplated what to do to cheer him up— unfortunately coming up with no solution.

So what were they doing all the way out here trudging the beaches of Guyun stone forest in Liyue territory despite not venturing inside the main city itself?

Of course, they were searching for a rather reckless individual. They weren't the brightest person ever, in fact Paimon frequently reminded them of how many screws they had loose, and it was hard to believe they were capable of surviving in the wild for a month now since the day they had not shown up for dinner.

Before the two had met this adventurer, they determined that they thrived in the wild for an unprecedented amount of time. Despite that reassuring thought, no matter how many times they ran into them within the unrestrained wilderness, this adventurer would be in some unexplainable dangerous situation that would make anyone pity their horrible luck— thus justifying their concerns over their wellbeing.

It was only natural for them to worry because the three weren't just repeated acquaintances with interactions driven by curiosity anymore, they were much more like a family. Living together for nearly a year would no doubt create that bond, and to sporadically abandon this bond one day wasn't something the two planned on tolerating.

Aether never thought a month could go by as gruelingly slow as the one they were currently in, because there wasn't a day he wasn't clouded with worry over the reckless adventurer he had invited to live with him. Everyone in the teapot had their own reactions to their sudden disappearance, but those details on them would be further delved into at another time.

Paimon's willed herself to focus on the environment around her from the calm waves that kissed the shore to the golden crabs that scrambled along the beach while internally chanting affirmations to remain positive as she traveled besides Aether.

The boy only continued to absentmindedly walk forward with clear determination forcing him to proceed, this whole mysterious disappearance of one of his closest friends he has made in this world affecting him more than he outwardly suggested it did. The way his eyebrows creased inwards towards his nose as he avoided the glare of the sun and how his features rested in a small frown made him look rather irritated or angry, but he was neither, and above all of the emotions he was feeling, he was worried.

The intentions for coming to this rather secluded area was in hopes to gather intel from a famed pirate crew who docked their ship in the area. When questioning a resident at the Wangshuu Inn, they were tipped that the captain who led the Crux Fleet may have some information on a missing individual since word travels to them quickly. Whether that be reliable information or not didn't matter because they would look into it either way.

Besides, their next destination was Inazuma before they would explore the rest of Liyue and enter its main city because of the diplomatic affairs and internal struggles that are making it unavoidable to ignore and unable to delay. That meant they needed someone with experience on these waters to take them to this foreign land because the currents weren't one amateurs could concur— thus bringing them to the conclusion the famed Captain Beidou would be able to do so and they planned on asking her to take them despite no prior interactions with her. That goes without say that they would be in her debt, though with how much Aether has already done for others in Teyvat it was only a natural assumption.

Pushing her fingers together, a rather guilty thought that Paimon had been pondering was begging to be questioned. Reluctantly, she broke the silence between the two in order to hear her travel companion's thoughts since this had really been eating at her since the moment it crossed her mind.

At first, Aether didn't immediately recognize what Paimon was talking about, although he was quickly able to piece together what she was implying when in regards to their current circumstances.

"Maybe... they don't want to be found?" Paimon questioned dejectedly, her cheeks lightly puffing out as she side eyed Aether from her peripheral vision to see his reaction.

Aether's foot paused from taking its next step as he completely froze, the air around them seeming to still. Droning out every other noise besides Paimon's voice, who began to ramble about her reasoning as to why she said that, he contemplated her initial statement to himself while questioning their motives if that were the case.

He was quick to snap himself out of this strange stupor he had found himself in, shaking his head to himself as he remembered that this wasn't how he should react at all. He could claim he knew (Y/N) better than many people, so he knew they wouldn't disappear on a whim and they would pop up when he least expected them to. With that thought in mind, this time around instead of Paimon being the one to reassure him, he decided he would play the role of providing the positive assurance.

"It's better to get solid confirmation from them when we find them, don't you think?" Aether said, implying they would definitely run into them sooner or later with intentions to ease Paimon's worries.

The way Paimon lit up made an audible sigh of relief fall from his lips and he could feel the tenseness in his shoulders physically loosen a notch or two. She smiled brightly and her eyes twinkled with a reignited determined emotion from his words, her stance in the air much less stiff than it were prior.

With a firm nod of her head, Paimon agreed to Aether's words that encouraged her once again and seemed to recharge some of her dwindled energy. There was no way they would let one month turn into two, and so they would keep looking even if that meant they had to deprive themself of the comfort of the Serenitea pot just as (Y/N) has done.

"Yeah! But when we find them, Paimon's going to give them the scolding of a life time— and she's never gonna forgive them!"

——————♡——————

I will be adding the character "Shikanoin Heizou" soon and I will be basing him off the Fanon design and personality based on what I've read up about him.

(Everyone thank @StanHeizouNOW for his addition in the story 😤‼️)

I'm going to make his personality kind of a Kokichi from Danganronpa and Ranpo from BSD mix, like I love the idea of a scheming detective he seems like a very fun character. Future readers, if he's totally out of character and described nothing like canon when he actually comes out in game... oops lol.

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