Listless Reset [GI]

Prologue

"Aether! Come on, get up already!" Paimon, the floating fairy companion of the traveler said. She's tried poking him in his face, yelling at him to wake up. No matter what method she tried, splashing water on his face, using her tiny hands to slap him across his face. He has yet to wake up.

"Zzz..."

"Paimon is hungry you know?! Don't keep Paimon from starving!" She cried out to Aether who in return, let out a light snore. Gah! This is so frustrating. "Wake up already!" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and started shaking him.

"..." Aether's eyes slowly began to open up. Having been woken up from his paradise that got disrupted by noise and violent shaking. "Why are you so loud?" He grumbled out with low effort, shifting himself around a bit to get comfortable.

"The problem is that it's time to get up! It's almost the afternoon." Paimon squealed out with anger. "I've been trying to wake you up. But you've just passed me off without much effort! But I finally woke you up, so make breakfast already!"

"Zzz..."

"Aether!!"

-~-

"Seriously... are you alright?" Paimon floated by Aether's side. She would usually disappear off into her pocket dimension and leave him to do whatever, but she was concerned by how... odd the traveler was acting.

"Deliberately I am just tired." Aether replied as he yawned. "I'll just get more sleep... yeah... that sounds like a good idea."

"You've had enough sleep as it is!" Paimon told Aether as she stopped in front of him. "We need to find out what's wrong with you. Perhaps Yae knows what's wrong with you. Let's go meet up with her."

"No." Aether blurted out.

"Eh?" Paimon blinked at Aether's bluntness. "What do you mean 'no'?!" She bawled her hands into fists and hit Aether across his head.

"Stop it. It tickles." Aether's head bopped to the side with each hit, his face was stoic. "Too... high." He simply said. Looking into the sky.

"Too high what?" Paimon asked confused. She followed Aether's gaze and saw him staring at the peak of Mt. Yougou. "You mean the Grand Narukami Shrine?"

"Mm..." Aether nodded as he closed his eyes. "That'll take too much walking... I'll rather... sleep..."

Thud

"Ah! Aether are you alright?" Paimon quickly moved down next to Aether, panicking as he suddenly fell limp on the ground. "Oh no, we really need to get you some help."

"Mm... I think I'll just stay here..." Aether's voice was muffled by the dirt his face is planted on. "It's cozy..."

"..." Paimon stared blankly at the words. "You became lazy..."

"Moving is too much effort, I am simply storing my energy so it won't go to waste."

"No. You're just being lazy."

"..." Aether didn't reply. "Arguing wastes too much energy..."

"Are you serious right now? Ugh... what's gotten into you all of a sudden? Seriously, you were fine yesterday." Paimon huffed. She frowned, she was worried about his health. Thinking back to it now, Aether has always been quite a hard worker. As his guide of Teyvat, she tried her best to help him along the way. He's dealt with many things in their travels.

The issues in Mondstadt, the climate of Dragonspine, Liyue's open wide geography, the Fatui, Inazuma's vision hunt decree, the Raiden Shogun's wrath... the list of things goes on.

"Hey, Aether..."

"Mm...?" A soft hum was all that she heard from him. Showing that he at least heard her.

"Are you perhaps... burned out?" It's the only logical thing she can think of as of now. The constant commissions from the Adventure Guild, to the events that happened in the Chasm. "Now that I think about it... You always get back up even if you're tired."

"..."

"Hey... shouldn't you learn to take a break for now? At least... learn to decline your services for others?" She asked with more concern. "If it's straining you, then you can take a break you know. You don't have to push yourself."

"I guess I am tired..." She heard his reply, slowly he pulled himself from the ground. He stood up slightly slouched.

"Let's get you somewhere comfortable to get some rest then." Paimon said with a small smile. "You can't even stand straight."

"I suppose I can't. If only Lumine was here..." Aether replied with a yawn.

"Your sister? Why?" Paimon blinked with confusion.

"She's always taken care of me during our travels. Between the both of us, she acted more like a big sister. Funny enough because I'm the oldest." Aether recalled a few memories. "But between us... I was the one who was taken care of the most."

"Really? How come?"

"Between the both of us... I was the most vulnerable. I run out of energy easily. And it takes a long time for me to get energetic again. Whenever I ran out... I would turn like... this..." Aether yawned between his words, tears forming across his eyes, and slowly wiped them off with a finger. "I become too tired to function. Too exhausted, sometimes I wouldn't even eat because I was tired. Even if I got hungry, I still wouldn't eat. Lumine was always there to take care of me when I got like this..."

"..." Paimon frowned slightly as she looked at her companion. This is very serious. "How long does it take for your energy to fully be restored?"

"About a few years..." Aether mumbled as he closed his eyes. He sat down on the grass, a wave of exhaustion taking over him.

"A few years?!" Paimon moved back in shock and freight. "You're gonna be like this for years?!" Why now of all times did he have to run out of energy. What about his journey? What about his sister? What about traveling throughout all the nations? It's all gonna be postponed until he recovers his energy back.

"The grass is surprisingly nice..." Mumbled Aether, patting it as he then laid down. He closed his eyes as the sun hit his entire being. The air breeze was gentle, feeling as the wind hits him with a gentle brush across his entire body.

"This is bad... Paimon can't even move you. Paimon is too small! What do I do to get you to safety?!" Paimon panicked as she floats around with frustration. What does she do? Then an idea caught her mind. "Paimon will try and go get help! You stay here and don't wander off!" She looked at Aether with a scowling face to show that she was serious and will be mad at him if runs off.

"Zzz..."

"I don't think Paimon will have to worry about you wandering off..." She muttered, looking at the sleeping boy who snores lightly. There's nobody around, no monsters as well... so it should be safe to go get help.

Without another thought, she flew off to go get help.

-~-

Word Count: 1,156