Our Beloved Chalk Prince(A collection)

"I don't want to do this!"(aebedo)

(*drinks your tears in a comically large mug* I need a refill! *writes this*)
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Aether knew this day would come.

Ever since Albedo revealed his relation to Durin, he wondered if history would repeat itself. He recalled how Durin came to Mondstadt to befriend Dvalin, but brought chaos in his wake, and was thus slain by the ones he looked up to the most. Aether wondered if one day he too must play the role of eradicating dangerous impurities from Mondstadt.

But Albedo was welcoming.

Unlike his more naturally destructive brother, his hands were used to create, not to destroy. He had slowly opened up and made new friends.

He even warmed up to Aether.

Albedo had used his creations to help Mondstadt. He donated his earnings from his paintings to charity. He made sobering potions for the recent Weinlesefest. Even contributed to the charity shop.

And he would fulfill his duties and defend Mondstadt. He even took on the front lines during the Stormterror crisis.

Then why?

Why was he here, destruction uncontrolable in his wake? Why was Aether pinning him down with his sword? Why was his body morphed and disfigured into a horrific state.

"Do it." he said between sharp breaths. His hands that were used to create life, destroyed the area. The man that used to defend Mondstadt posed the biggest risk to it. The man that once gently handled life killed all and everything in his path.

He tried to fight the urge. He really did, even going as far as to force himself to climb all the way up to the peak of Dragonspine just so that when his rampage started, he wouldn't destroy the  city he had devoted his life to protecting. Albedo didn't want that. Compared to the many busy lives of the Land of Freedom, he was just a small speck of dust.

But to Aether, he wasn't. He was more than that.

Albedo was like a sun to him, he shone brighter than anything he's seen in the mamy centuries he's been alive. He was kind and caring, and he understood Aether in a way none else did.

He doesn't want to, but he needs to. He has to do it before the last of Albedo's humanity fades. But he can't.

He needed to balance wants and needs here. But he simply couldn't. Not when Albedo stared at him with that same loving gaze, and practically asking for death.

With a shaky hand, the alchemist took the tip of the blade and pointed it directly at his neck. The Traveler shook his head. "No, there- there has to be another way!" he wished, he hoped. But he knew deep down he was already a lost cause. The only solution now was to kill him.

"Do it, Aether! While it's still managable I-... I don't want to harm anyone in Mondstadt." Albedo begged.

Aether didn't want to.

Mustering up all his courage, the Traveler pushed his blade down. A horrific scream of pain shook the mountain, whether it belonged to him or Albedo didn't matter.

Nothing mattered.