Genshin Impact One Shots

If We Fell Apart (Angst)

!! Slightly Implied Xhongther !!

Aether was in no means one of the weaker adepti of Liyue. He was one of the first, one of the stronger ones. But yet still his heart ached.

Her face haunted his dreams, sun-bleached blonde hair, golden yellow eyes, all her features matched him. Her ghost, her illusion, stalking constantly from behind.

That day, never to leave his memory. A curse befitting his actions. His sister.. The one he swore to protect.. and the one he failed to save.

"Lumine.."

Aether's voice was cracked and broken. Tears streamed from his eyes. The sun setting over the now calm nation that.. no longer needed him. He crossed his arms over his chest as he dropped to the floor in front of the stone tablet that represented her.

"It should have been me.. Why.. why did it have to be you? You could have handled the war better Lumine.. I can't-"

He let out a broken sob. He trembled and shook with each breath. Before the grave was no longer a strong adeptus, but a broken boy. A boy who had seen things no man should witness. A boy who was stripped of his innocence for a war destiny wanted him away from..

And by refusing to heed destiny's calls to his greater purpose.. by them two deciding to fight aside Rex Lapis in the war.. their punishment was sealed. All in the words Mountain Carver spoke on the day they met..

"Two enter, one leaves. Children of the golden sun, you have defied destiny. Tread carefully, or one will fall. Leaving the other alive, but broken by all."

He should have listened. Aether cried out again. In hatred of himself. He hated that he was alive. That he lived on while his sister bled out before him.

Cursed since the day the contract was made. Since they left behind their families to follow a god who promised them abilities no mortal could hold. He called them special. And the Twins fell for it.

"I shouldn't have agreed.. you should have lived, not me. Maybe then.. maybe then Liyue would be brighter, be safer.."

His tone was a hushed whisper now. Aether looked up at the headstone. Burnt out incense laid in their censers. Bowls of gifts from the people laid before it, a sacrifice, and a memorial to the adeptus who lost her life in the final hours of the Archon war.. to help secure her god's crown.

It was almost selfish of him really. Selfish of Aether to want Lumine back. But he did. Aether saw himself as a selfish man. A man undeserving of the praise he gets, of the happiness of the people. He didn't deserve any of this..

"I'm a pitiful Adeptus. I couldn't save you.. I promised and I failed. What would Rex Lapis think of me.. if he saw me like this. One of his strongest, down on his knees crying for a person who laid their life in his name. I'm a fool, a selfish being. I don't deserve their praise, their approval. If they knew.. they would hate me.."

As Aether finished his speech a golden light flashed behind him. The boy scrambled to his feet and turned around to witness his master, his God, standing before him.

"If I could count on one hand the lies you have spoken before me Aether.."

Rex Lapis was in his human form. By no means was the god ugly. His hair was the same as his godly form, tied back with a golden yellow fade at the end. He was tall, with a voice to match his looks.

Aether, he admits to himself, if he wasn't such a mess he would find himself flustered before his god. But he couldn't muster enough energy nor strength to look up as the god cupped Aether's face between his hands and lifted it to meet his golden yellow eyes.

"You are deserving of so much more Aether.."

Aether fell into the Gods arms as he started sobbing. His mind screamed at him to get up, that he was embarrassing himself before the one he loyally served.

"Shh.. it's okay. You've done enough for today.."

Rex Lapis wrapped his arms around him as he comforted the Adeptus. Aether gripped the god's robes as he sobbed, burying his face in his chest.

"I hate it.. I hate destiny, I hate Celestia.. I hate that I had to live on while she died.."

Rex Lapis stood as he cried. While his face remained emotionless he was internally cursing the very ideal of Destiny. He was angry to see Aether hurt, and knowing he couldn't do anything made him angrier. Rex Lapis was a god, one of, if not the most powerful of the seven. And yet all he could do was hold Aether as he cried out in pain.

He was no more deserving of the praise than Rex Lapis was. Both had fought for Liyue and it's safety, the God liked to say that the adepti did more. That they pulled more of the weight.

But his people didn't listen to that, they only saw the Adepti as the guardians of Liyue, and they saw Rex Lapis as their true founder. Their leader, the people held him in a higher regard than the Adepti.

"You are amazing Aether.. you are as brilliant as the starlight that graces the harbor at night.. The starlight that was robbed of the love it deserves."

His words were meant as a comfort. And they were. Aether's breathing slowed as he fell asleep. Having spent all his energy on crying over something he couldn't control.

Most would call it survivor's guilt, Rex Lapis called it a curse Destiny had no right to bring forth. The twins were innocent, they didn't know what they were doing was wrong.

But still he wept. Still Aether's heart cried out for what he couldn't have. For destiny is unforgiving.

•••

The world moved on. Time stills but does not stop. And he stood at the balcony off Wangshu Inn, gazing at the nation that lay nearby, but not close enough all at the same time.

It had been years, it feels, since that day. The day all his dreams yet all his nightmares came true. He knew now, Rex La- No, Aether reminded himself, Zhongli, knew. He didn't know a more horrifying thought.

But still, something felt right about him knowing the anguish the Adeptus felt. The pain that had been almost eating him alive emotionally.

The guilt, shame, and pain piling up as he tried to bottle it away until the evening when he could cry out at the grave. The mistake he could never fix. Almost like a starving beast stalking it's next meal. Clawing through his body till there was nothing left other than anguish and mind numbing tears that brought no joy or comfort.

"Xiao told me you were here again, Aether. Hiding from the world again? Or are you forgetting that you aren't alone in your grief?"

His voice rang out from behind him. It was crisp, sharp even. But deep and calm. Aether knew this voice. He smiled.

"Morax, or, as you prefer now, Zhongli. Right on Time as expected.."

His tone lifted, as did his posture. Yet his mind remained dark. Nothing could heal the emptiness that his sister left in her wake.

"Lumine would be proud of you Aether. Proud of how far you've gone since her death. Yet you still cry."

"Nothing can fill the bitter silence the loss of a family member leaves behind Zhongli. We first lost Guizhong, then we lost Lumine. But still.. I feel to blame for her death, her loss."

Zhongli hugged Aether from behind. Resting his chin on the golden Adeptus' shoulder.

"There was nothing you or I could do. Destiny was foretold, and neither of us could fight it. No matter how angry it makes us both."

Total word count: 1,325 words

AN: Thank you so much to my friends who have beta read this and helped this develop. Tbh this was just a thing I wrote while bored at a band competition. Thanks for reading this, here's some tissues. And lastly, please feel free to comment! This tells me people like what I am writing, and motivates me to add more to this, not to mention I love reading/seeing others' reactions to my work!