Secret Nemesis | Aether x Reader

IV

A day had passed by since Aether's invitation for you to join him and Paimon on his adventures and now you were staying in the mansion with our own room. Since you had agreed, he had given you a place to call your own as thanks.

"Breakfast time," Aether called out to everyone.

Fixing yourself before going downstairs, you met up with Paimon who was also going down after being called by Aether. Holding onto the railings of the stairs, you walked down carefully as to not accidentally trip since sometimes you were the clumsiest person to exist in the world.

"Good morning y/n," Paimon smiled as she floated next to you.

"Good morning Paimon," you greeted back.

"How was your sleep y/n?" she asked you, her eyes bright with energy that it looked like it was sparkling.

"Good," you giggled. "How was your sleep Paimon?"

"It was great!" she cheered as she pumped her fist into the air before lowering her hand and placing it over her mouth to hide a grin. "Paimon had a great dream though it's a secret. Paimon's not going to tell y/n what her dream was."

You looked at her with a head tilt curious as to why Paimon was acting like that, "If it's a secret then I guess it's a secret."

Walking down the stairs to the dining room, Aether came out of the kitchen carrying plates in his arms and placed them down on the table. Removing the apron that he was wearing, he sat down on his seat at the table while you and Paimon did the same. A stack of pancakes rested on top of each other as you and Paimon each took your own share of pancakes to eat.

Placing butter on top of the warm pancake for it to melt, you spread it around before getting the syrup to add a layer of sweetness to your breakfast.

"Thank you for the food," you told the traveler as you started to dig in.

The pancakes melted in your mouth as you sighed in delight from the food, It was delicious, to say the least. Not only was the pancake firm enough that the syrup wouldn't soak into it for a good while, but it was also soft on the inside that the moment you put it in your mouth, it also melted into pure goodness. It was by far the best pancake that you had ever tried in your life.

"Paimon loves your cooking," Paimon cheered down as she wolfed down the food. "It's always so good!"

Aether started to eat as well with a chuckle saying, "Thank you."

Eating the tea break pancake that Aether had prepared with a side of milk tea, you stuffed yourself full since today would be a day full of commission completing to earn more mora. Since there weren't any requests, Aether had decided to adventure around Teyvat while completing commissions from the Adventurers Guild. It would be like killing two birds with one stone. On one hand, you had the opportunity to explore, and on the other hand, you got mora. Who could say no to that?

After the very much delicious breakfast that Aether had prepared, he opened a portal to leave the Adeptus abode - the Serenitea pot - and return back into Teyvat. The portal pulling you inside once again, you shut your eyes trying to get used to the strong force of the portal.

Feeling the pressure leaving, you opened your eyes only to be greeted by the warm light of the shining sun. Looking forward, your eyes shone with awe as you looked at the view before you. It was the city of Liyue and all the buildings were like tiny drawings below you. The ocean looked like a sea of crystals with the sun hitting the waves as it sparkled. The trees accented the city as the colored buildings made the city look even more spectacular.

It was something new for you. The abyss, a dark and empty place had been the only thing that you had known. Before that, you could barely even remember your childhood. The Abyss - your home - had been your very own happiness but, now that you were seeing even more of the world, your heart started to open up more. The closed-off soul of yours was slowly lowering its walls as you saw more of the beauty of the world.

It was as if each and every day that you spent with Aether and Paimon, you saw something new.

"It's so beautiful right!" Paimon looked at you expectantly. "Paimon told Aether to bring you here since Paimon thought that you might like it."

"I love it," you genuinely smiled as you answered her. "I love it so much. Thank you Paimon, Aether."

"Of course," Aether sat down on the cliff that the three of you were standing on and laid down.

He patted the spot next to him as Paimon also went to lie down on his other side. Following the actions of the two before you, you placed your hand on the soft grass that tickled your palm and laid down.

Staring up into the sky, you grinned as you turned your head to look at the traveler. He smiled back at you before pointing up at the sky.

"Look at the clouds in the sky," Aether pointed to a floating cloud. "That one looks like Tubby."

"You're right," you giggled before pointing to another cloud. "That one looks like Paimon."

"There's Aether," Paimon laughed at a humanoid figured cloud floated past the three of you. "And that's y/n."

Gazing at the sky, you laughed as you saw the cloud that seemed to be following Aether. You couldn't deny that it looked like you especially since you liked to follow Aether and Paimon. The extension of the cloud looked like your hair while the circle on the top of the cloud looked like a face.

The three of you continued to stare into the sky, getting lost in the beauty of nature as you soon enough forgot the whole entire reason why you and the other two had decided to leave the spacial home early.

You gazed up longingly, wishing that every day would be like this. A joyful retreat with the two people you now called your precious friends. A peaceful scenery where you could just soak up the stunning beauty of the world that you had taken for granted.

However, as with life, things aren't always that pretty. Even if there are bright moments, there are also unforgiving nightmares that come after you in the real world.