Dominator Stellae

3 | Outlanders in a Land of Monoliths

"𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆."

- Avijeet Das

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I could feel his stare burning into my back as we walked. It was beyond uncomfortable, but it had been so long since I'd held an actual conversation and from what I could tell Aether wasn't much of a talker. The silence was awkward though and Paimon was nowhere to be seen, which was confusing because I could've sworn I'd seen her when we'd stepped off of our boats. It was just me and Aether. And silence.

"I don't remember telling you my name, it's Juno by the way," I said to him, slowing down so that he could actually keep up with me. "Where exactly are you from if you don't mind answering?" He pulled something out his bag- a notebook and a pencil? The sound of fast scribbling relieves us of silence for a few moments before he's showing me what he's written.

'It's hard to explain.'

My eyebrows raised. So I'd been right to think he wasn't from Teyvat. I may not have been here in a while but I could sense when auras were different and his was... definitely different from this world's. A world traveler I'm guessing. "We have all the time in the world," I assure him. "I don't mind listening to your tale." I watched his expression waver for a moment. He wrote something else down.

'I'm looking for my sister. We crashed here some time ago, but I don't know where she's gone or how long we've been here.'

He'd lost his sister. That was something we shared in common, except well...my sister was dead. My expression softened as I thought of the fear and confusion he must've felt when he realized she wasn't with him. I could vividly remember the last time my sister had smiled at me. It was such a small, warm one, but it had meant the world to me upon seeing her body dissipate. After that, all I could remember feeling was anger.

I'd probably blacked out, I won't lie. How could someone be as heartless as to take away someone's sibling? She'd been my entire world and to witness that being taken away from me? I wouldn't wish loneliness on my enemies...okay maybe I would. But that's besides the point.

'I'm headed to Liyue to take part in the Rite of Descension and hopefully talk to Rex Lapis about him aiding me in finding my sister.'

Rex Lapis? Where had I heard that name before? Wait, Morax! The people of Liyue back in the day referred to him as Rex Lapis all the time instead of Morax. That's where I'd heard that name! The Rite of Descension was happening soon, eh? Maybe it would be worthwhile to see a familiar face. Then again, the terms we'd parted on hadn't been particularly pleasant. I should apologize if I do get to see him again.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you to Liyue?" I asked him, cautiously putting my hood back down. "There was someone I was hoping to see there."

'I don't mind. Company besides Paimon is nice sometimes.'

I couldn't help but chuckle at the jab he took at Paimon. He should be glad she couldn't see it, wherever she'd disappeared off to. The two of us decided it would be a good idea to stop in Monstadt and buy some supplies before we continued on any further. It would be a dumb idea to continue on supplies made for two when there were now three. Now that I thought about it, Aether didn't have a vision, so how could I sense Anemo energy coming from him? He was becoming an even bigger enigma by the minute.