Aether is currently at the outskirts of Poisson, at the region but not near it simultaneously as well. He was sitting on the ground overlooking the great body of water in front of him. Paimon is floating beside him with a happy face with a bag of Mora in her hands.
"Hehee! That last commission was so easy!" Paimon said gleefully.
"Yeah." Aether simply said as he looked on.
"What do we do next Aether?" Paimon asked him with a smile.
"I don't know." Aether simply said to her.
"But you must know what we need to do next right? We saved Fontaine and became heroes. Maybe we can ask Katheryn for more commissions." Paimon said to him with a smile.
"I don't know." Aether repeated as he kept his gaze.
"Why are you saying that again? Aether, Paimon is asking—" Paimon said to him confused.
"I don't know okay!" Aether suddenly shouted shocking Paimon as she dropped the bag of Mora.
Paimon saw the look of anger on his face as he looked at her, something she had rarely seen on his face.
"What do you want me to do huh? What do you think I have been doing!?" Aether shouted at her in anger.
"Uh... Paimon was just saying..." Paimon said nervously.
"You were saying what! That we should take more commissions! Well news flash Paimon! I'm the one doing the commissions, not you!" Aether said in anger as he pointed at himself.
"Paimon knows but..." Paimon tried to say.
"No! Shut up! Shut your mouth this instant!" Aether shouted at her.
Paimon promptly shut up as she looked at him beyond confused and scared at the anger that he had now directed towards her.
"What do you think I have been doing huh!? Do you think I do this to become some kind of hero!?" Aether shouted at her.
"N-No..." Paimon weakly said to him.
"No right! Then why the hell am I getting dragged into each of the nation's problems!" Aether shouted at her.
Paimon just flinched when she heard him.
"The only thing I wanted to do was find my sister! I never wanted to become some kind of renowned hero or anything! But every time I take part in it because I don't want people to suffer! And what do I get in return?! Nothing!" Aether shouted angrily.
Paimon didn't know what to say to his words.
"Ever since the Stormterror incident I have been in one God forsaken mission after another. At Mondstadt I had to fight Stormterror, in Liyue I faced Osial. I don't know if it was to mock me but in Inazuma I took it up a notch and fought against their God themselves. Then in Sumeru I fought against a false God and defeated him! And now here in Fontaine, I fought against a god forsaken whale from out of this world! Do you know how that feels!?" Aether shouted as he listed the things to her.
"No." Paimon said nervously.
"Exactly, you don't know. You are always on the side giving me words of encouragement as you say and never take part in the battle. While you are always safe I am the one who is fighting against powerful enemies and putting my life on the line to save some Nations that I had no obligation to do!" Aether shouted as he slammed his fist on the ground.
"Aether." Paimon said sadly when she heard him.
"Do you know how hard it is for me to treat others so politely? When all these people of the nation give me useless commissions which can be done by an ordinary person! Goddamit!" Aether shouted at her held his face.
"Hey! Paimon is sorry okay. Paimon never wanted to make you feel like that." Paimon said to him in a soft tone.
Aether let out a breath of air as he grit his teeth in frustration.
"Easy for you to say. I risked my life to save every single nation that I visited. And I didn't even get any useful information at the first three nations. At least Nahida and Neuvillette gave me information. And let's not forget the fact that the problems of the other nations could've been solved if it's people had acted on it." Aether said with a frustrated face.
"Not all of them could be solved that easily." Paimon said to him.
"Right. And I was needed in the fight against Osial right? I wasn't even a citizen of Liyue and yet I participated in that battle and put my life on the line and I got little to no information. He knew that it was unfair, especially after the second time we helped him and yet I never said anything!" Aether said to her in anger.
'Paimon has never seen him act like this before.' Paimon thought to herself as she looked at him.
"And now in Fontaine I was pulled in yet another plan where I had to risk my life again to save a nation. I also had to orchestrate and plan to put Furina on trial and guess what!? I was seen as a villain by some of the people of Fontaine!" Aether said with clear anger in his voice.
"What are you talking about? Paimon doesn't think that they see you as a villain." Paimon said to him shocked.
In response Aether materialised a newspaper and flipped open a page before giving it to Paimon. She took it and looked at the page. Paimons eyes widened when she saw the title.
""Traveller: Hero or Villain!?" Wait, what does it mean?" Paimon asked surprised.
"Well, one person from the Steambird wrote an article saying that the reason Furina abdicated the throne was because of me. And since the prophecy was averted they think that Furina did nothing wrong and that she had just lost all of her powers due to using it for Indemnitium. They also wrote that because of the betrayal that Furina felt from her people, which was orchestrated by me as I had led her trial, I was the reason Fontaine doesn't have an Archon now. They are accusing me of causing Furina to lose her title of Hydro Archon." Aether said to her as he looked at her.
"B-But that's not true at all! The only reason the people of Fontaine didn't dissolve was because of Furina and Neuvillette and she left the position herself, you didn't do anything." Paimon said with an incredulous.
"They don't care Paimon. The article has already spread through the people and those outside Poisson who still worshipped and liked Furina have started to glare at me." Aether said with a frustrated look.
"Aether." Paimon said sadly.
"I'm sick of all this Paimon. Doing everything I have in my power to save the lives of countless people and for what. Some fancy titles and being used as an errand boy. There is no need to sugarcoat it, the people see me as an errand boy rather than a national hero with how they give me commissions, including the most simple one. One woman even asked me to get her cat! A cat! Do you know how that feels!?" Aether said to her in anger.
"Paimon... doesn't know." Paimon said as she let her head fall.
"That's right. I'm so sick of all of this!" Aether shouted as he punched the ground with his fist crackling with Electro.
The ground broke a bit from the impact as Paimon was a bit spooked by it.
"Eek!" A woman's voice suddenly said catching the duo's attention.
"Who's there!? Show yourself!?" Aether said as he got up immediately as he looked at where he thought the voice came from.
He waited for a few seconds with Paimon before a woman emerged from behind a rock.
"Navia?" Paimon said surprised alongside Aether who didn't say anything.
"It's... not just me." Navia said nervously as she looked to her right.
Then another, shorter woman walked from behind her and coming in full view of the travelling duo.
"Furina?" Aether said surprised as he looked at the former Hydro Archon.
"Hey Aether." Furina said as she looked at him alongside Navia.
YOU ARE READING
Genshin Impact: To Repay
同人小說Aether had just finished saving Fontaine from the prophecy and has also helped Furina in her performance and acted as an emotional support. But the continued quests have worn him out emotionally and mentally as he vents his frustrations. But it seem...
