Chapter Text
Awakenings and Meetings:
The first thing that comes back to him is a ringing in his ears. It’s sharp and painful, and he takes a breath, and the air is-
Strange.
Aether groans and tries shifting, but his body aches something horrible, all pins and needles and tingling. Something tickles his skin on his midriff, and it feels too much, and whatever brushes there is also tickling the bare skin of his arms.
Aether hisses and shifts, moving to his side and ducking his head into his arms before slowly opening his eyes. The colors are too vibrant and Aether quickly shuts them, shuddering slightly. Aether doesn't know where he is, or why he’s here-
Her hand grabs his, tugging and they quickly hurry down the path hand in hand. Lumine is pale and shaky but her face is set, and Aether -
They’re nearing the end and a portal opens, the two stopping sharply and watching as a feminine figure descends, her face set in stone and anger. They both fly back, their wings expanding and she speaks-
Aether launches in time with Lumine, the two working in sync as they always have since- the Woman’s hand moves and something freezes the two of them. Her eyes stare them down and Aether barely has a chance to share a horrified glance with Lumine before he’s being sent flying back. He catches himself and is about to fly back when something red begins consuming Lumine-
He is screaming- he flies forward but something grasps him back and he cries out- “Lumine!” He chokes out- then-
-Darkness covers his eyes- someone is screaming- there is heat and crying- nothing-
Aether chokes on a sob, hands clasping over his mouth to try and stop the second sob that tears from his throat. He staggers up, heaving before emptying his stomach on the too bright grass. He’s in the center of some sort of grassy crater, dirt and grass and leaves tumbling off his arms and stomach and legs. A quiet whine leaves him and he shivers, tears tumbling down his cheeks.
“L-Lumine-” He rasps, staggering up and looking around wildly. The sun burning above is way too bright and he squints, shaking hands coming up to cover his eyes. He turns and then stumbles, a wave of dizziness washing over him. He does not recognize the place around him, and the breeze gracing over his arms burns in ways it shouldn't.
He’s more sensitive here than any other world before. Aether looks around, eyes hurting, and realizes that he must be very much alone.
He’s never been alone before, not like this. Lumine has always been with him.
The Woman took Lumine, sent her somewhere like she sent him. He- he needs to find her. He has to find his big sister-
Aether shudders, clutches himself and swallows around the tears still falling. He doesn't know where Lumine is, or what happened to her. But surely if he’s in this world, so is she?
Aether will find her. He must.
Aether quickly comes to realize that he doesn’t know this place at all. If he did, any memories are gone, too vague and distant leaving him with a vague sense of deja vu as he begins making his way around.
People here are strange, and the world glows in ways Aether isn’t familiar with. Some people themselves glow too, and as he walks and observes he realizes that some of them taste like the wind on a crisp day, or smell like molten embers twinkling in a fire, or the sharp taste of ice on his nose.
His senses are out of sorts here, sights have smells and sounds that they shouldn’t and Aether feels like he’s ten feet out of his skin and everything is too much. So, much as he wants to talk to someone and find Lumine, he decides to keep away. He sets himself up under a cliff, in a small cave big enough to keep him safe and covered when it storms.
And it does storm, wildly and fiercely with all the rage of a being scorned. Aether learns to read the wind, and figures out the patterns rather quickly. From there, he begins to learn how to hunt and feed himself. Fishing is easiest. He fastens a pole from a thick, sturdy branch, and finds a way to fasten a line.
He still has his sword, so he uses that sparingly to attack some boars for meat. Making a fire is more difficult, and that’s how he finds out about his powers, and wings, being gone.
There had been a good mine of ore on a cliff, too difficult to climb. It would spark a good fire, so Aether had climbed a slightly larger rockface and jumped the distance to try and fly over.
His wings hadn’t responded. Not even a tingle in his back. Aether had cried out, tumbling into trees and rocks and his back ached and flared with bruises. He was sure he’d broken a rib, or at least cracked it by the time he’d hit the ground.
Moaning in pain, Aether had gasped for breath, chest burning from pain and the way his lungs had been knocked out of all the air he’d had.
He’d been fishing since then, ribs healing from the fall.
Which is how he ended up fishing up something that was most certainly not a fish. But maybe edible? He drags the small figure out with wide eyes, grasping their sides carefully as they moaned blearily, swaying in his hands.
They’re tiny, tinier than inhabitants of this world, like a newborn child. There’s more maturity in their body though, and Aether realizes they must just be a different race of some sort. Like him? But no, the energies coming off them that he always sees feels and smells like the ones here.
He kneels in the sand and lays them down carefully, checking for their breath - did they even breathe? - and a pulse - what if they didn’t have a heart? - before wiping his hands down his pants stressfully. They were breathing it seems, and okay, but he watches them anyway.
They wake eventually, and Aether tries not to think about how the reddish tinge of their celestial cape reminds him of the Woman who took Lumine. Aether peers at them as they look around in confusion, dark eyes surrounded by pale skin and hair. “Are you okay?” He asks, and hopes they understand him.
He’d picked up on the language of the place - Teyvet, he’s heard it called - but he knows from the sparse conversations he’s had that his way of speaking is more outdated. The little figure jolts in surprise, looking from the water to Aether and back again before gasping.
Aether can’t tell if they’re looking at him positively until they speak.
“You! Did you save Paimon?!” The little pixie-like creature asks, and then begins to float upwards.
Aether blinks in surprise. “Are you Paimon?” He asks, slightly confused. The people of this world didn’t generally refer to themselves in that sort of phrasing when talking.
The little creature nods, “Paimon isn't good at swimming! I fell in! Thank you for saving Paimon!” They cheer, floating closer. “What’s your name?”
“O-oh.” Aether leans back slightly, overwhelmed at how joyous Paimon sounds, and how excitable they are. “Uhm, my name is-” Here Aether falters. His name he knows isn’t the most culturally common, he thinks. The names of the people here are quite different. But it’s all he has left of his people, and his sister, along with his sword and armor. He straightens slightly, but Paimon doesn’t seem to realize there was even an anxious slouch to his shoulders, watching Aether with bright eyes. “My name is Aether, it is a pleasure to meet you.” He says, inclining his head like he’s seen others do.
Paimon cheers. “Paimon is pleased to meet you, Aether! She wonders why you’re here though, were you fishing for other Paimons?”
Aether furrows his eyebrows. “N-no, I was just fishing for food.” He replies.
Paimon makes a noise of understanding. “Paimon understands!” She looked down then, suddenly a bit more bashful. “C-could Paimon stay with you? Paimon is really hungry.” The pixie said sheepishly.
Aether smiles tiredly. “Sure, you can stay.”
Later, Aether comes to realize Paimon is really a little shit, but he’s stuck with her. At the very least, she makes for some emergency food.
And if she helps lessen the hole of loneliness in his chest as he searches for Lumine slowly but carefully, well he’s the only one to know and admit that.