#❁ / ❝& what is truth; that i will stay or i will go?❞ — cyno ( roleplay-abiogenesis2 )

[decoysouled]

AETHER WOULD NOT CALL HIMSELF A GOD — everlasting, divine, otherworldly; those were all accurate descriptors, but to claim the title of a god would be far too conceited for his liking. It is an idea that is unwelcome at best, regardless of how his power ( before they had the majority of it torn from them ) may have put them on the same level as one.

& the way Cyno mentions having thought him reserved is confusing, for Aether is sure he has been more than forthcoming with his thoughts, tidbits of omitted information aside. He isn't necessarily wrong, however, with the speculation that Aether was possessive with his things — as rare as it was, there were items he would never allow another to see, such as piles upon piles of journals detailing a life longer than one could comprehend.

( with pictures & stories of every person they have ever cared for hidden inside the pages of aged paper. )

❝You aren't wrong that I can be possessive of my things sometimes.❞ This is a truth he can divulge, one that would not be unsafe to make known to Cyno. ❝But that's mostly with my journals, or gifts from friends.❞ Both those he knows in the present after meeting them throughout his journey & those who are long gone, turned to ashes & stardust that would float throughout the universe for an eternity.

❝You're also right that I have no vision. I don't need one to use the elements.❞ For they once wielded something far more powerful than dendro or anemo, even if that power had been drained from them by a god so many centuries ago. ❝I don't think I'd be able to hide one easily, even if I did, but it's easier to let people think I have one than explain why that I don't.❞

It's better for the people of Teyvat to believe he is one of them rather than an outsider to a world that rarely has dealt with them.

❝Although, I wouldn't call myself or Lumine gods, Cyno. I'd prefer you not think of me as one either, if you were, considering I'm not nearly as powerful as one.❞ At least, he wasn't currently on par with any of Teyvat's gods where power was concerned. Even fighting a single one had been impossible without the help of others. ❝If you really have to think of me as something other than human, I would be more akin to a star in the sky.❞

Against the sting of his wound, Cyno sat still, and listened. Letting that information wash over him like cold water. Each bit more incredible than the next. All things that would have him question the Traveler's sanity, had he not been there to see the truth unfold before his very eyes.

Eternal. Immortal. Did that mean nothing would even have happened to him, had Cyno just left him to the storm? There was a bit of shame spilling into his heart at the thought, and a sense of inadequacy. And yet, at the same time, he thought that if he could have gone back to that moment he'd done exactly the same again.

It wasn't about doing what was necessary; he cared to do what was right.

"... You know. I always thought you were just particularly reserved, or maybe possessive of your things. But now I wonder... you don't even have a Vision on you, do you?" He asked, eyes shifting once more from the fire, to Aether's hands working around his shoulder, scanning over his clothes even now. Just how many times had his mind excused all the oddities that could have pointed him to the truth sooner?

"What does this make you and your sister? Gods? Is that it?"