<Gone>-a really short fanfic

<Gone>

Aether fell to his knees.

The bloodstained, mangled body of his sister laid on the floor in front of him, as if it was taunting him to succumb to the same fate.

Paimon.

Paimon had killed her.

The innocent-looking, tiny 'tour guide' that had followed him all around Teyvat had betrayed him. He'd called her emergency food, yet he was pretty sure that in reality he was the emergency food all along.

Because she was powerful.

So powerful.

"May the wind protect you," was what Venti had said while they were still in mondstadt. It had. And Aether had taken it for granted, every time the would-be-fatal blows were blocked by Anemo wielders. 

Now there was no one.

No one.

The only thing standing between him and death was his Hydro powers, while he reached for Lumine's sword. He had to defend himself, on his own.

He surveyed the walls of Celestia, trying to analyse every opportunity he had to win this. But it proved futile as everything kept changing, the quartz pillars shifting faster that he could process anything new.

Asmoday descended behind her tiny minion. "You humans caused this. Your arrogance made us have to try every path, but you couldn't let us. The rules were clear. Do not defy the Heavenly principles." She spoke, her familiar voice making Aether remember the painful first time he and Lumine were separated.

At least that time she wasn't dead.

Aether tried to focus o the Unknown God's amber eyes, but the world seemed distorted. The sky is fake , were the words he thought was a lie, but being in Celestia and seeing everything somewhat glitching out proved that Dottore hadn't been lying. Everything was just an illusion.

Wasn't it?

"But you didn't have to take her life!" Aether yelled at the nonchalant goddess as he tried to regain his strength, ready to do anything if it meant avenging his sister.

As soon as he felt strong enough, he lunged.

Aether used his Anemo powers to speed himself up as he darted towards Paimon, sword ablaze and gaze focused on the target. Instinct told him he shouldn't kill Paimon— but he couldn't believe anything else anymore. Not after what she did.

The attack instantly turned into a duel as Paimon blocked Aether's swing with a barrier. Everything she did defied reality while Aether just kept blasting and slashing, refusing to tire out.

"Paimon... WHY WOULD YOU KILL HER?" He stabbed at her, missing yet again as the tiny monster dodged. She stayed silent, concentrating on attacking while staring him down with her glazed-over eyes.

Eventually Aether was forced to retreat, wounds dripping blood and exhausted. Battle strategies raced through his head, trying to figure out how could even land a single shot on the still-unscathed Paimon. 

The sparkling eyes that had seemed so soft and familiar to him had turned to icy reality, the stars floating around in the galaxy gradient piercing his soul with a betrayal too unbelievably tragic for him to comprehend without bursting into a million pieces.

Aether tried to concentrate on the boiling rage that was directed towards Paimon, but the strength we gathered kept getting crushed by avalanches or grief and denial.

He was feeling so many things at once.

But he had to focus.

Focus on annihilating this annoying little pest.

Aether's Pyro attacks expressed the pure hatred he felt as he slashed, dodged, stabbed and ducked. Yet Paimon deflected every blow and sent back her own. As she pushed him further and further towards the ledge of the quartz slab they were fighting on, Aether was left with only on chance.

He took it.

In one satisfying motion, he leapt behind Paimon and sent his blade through the air at her.

The move... caught her off guard.

The gilded sword pierced her back, fully impaling her before red stains covered her snow-white clothes and she fell to the ground.

Anemo power buoyed Aether's landing as he pulled his sword out of Paimon's corpse. Ruthlessness occupied his brain, defying his conscience as he smiled with pleasure at his vengeance.

He turned around to face Asmoday, then-

Everything collapsed.

Pillars and ledges broke down into crimson cubes, moving under his feet while he struggled to balance. The squares went on for a minute before his surroundings reformed, except-

Paimon hovered in front of Aether, fully healed and ready to fight.

Aether was shocked, but it made sense. This was exactly the kind of trick a god would pull. He almost smirked as he remembered. Heavenly Principles, eh? He took a glance at Asmoday before he launched himself at Paimon again.

It just kept going.

Slash.

Stab.

Kill.

Repeat.

The endless samsara haunted him, the loop repeating itself over and over until he was wounded, exhausted, on the verge of death and the only thing keeping him going was his bloodlust driven by vengeance.

For Lumine.

His tired legs gave way despite his efforts and he wheezed, trying to keep himself going. But his entire body had gone numb, like the universe was telling him that nothing would go his way and he wasn't going to go any longer.

Asmoday waved her hand to dismiss Paimon and advanced towards Aether.

"Humans...so arrogant yet so weak. Don't you understand that knowledge is forbidden for a reason? That the Heavenly Principles have a purpose?"

Red blocks of matter bound Aether, slowly sapping what little energy he had left. The world was fading away in his eyes, his soul ready to leave this dimension. No matter how much he struggled, the binds just got tighter and tighter.

"You shall be no more."

Aether took one last glance at Asmoday before the world faded.