#meanwhile I was originally a Qiqi main

[dirkxcaliborn]

"Imaginarium theater is easy if you have enough characters" fuck you guys I'm getting my ass kicked 😭😭😭

[the-walk-of-weary-souls]

!Traveller Aether!

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In the beta it's confirmed that the twins actually arrived at the same time after being defeated by the unknown goddess, it's just that one did not wake up until 500 years later and that combined with the fact that adepti seem to have some abilities connected with dreams gave me an idea:

Upon their defeat the twins were cast back upon Teyvat sealed and separated. While Lumine awoke from the ordeal rather quickly, Aether was still in a deep slumber having been dealt a critical blow. By pure luck however, his slumbering body lands within Liyue a country that is rich with adeptal energy. This makes it possible for him to have an elevated conciousness within the dream realm and even to a small extent interact with the waking world.

He starts of as just a vague presence within the dream realm, but as he slowly grows stronger he is able to interact with things and entities such as the Adepti in the dream realm more and even start to create an image of his physical body to manifest when talking to others.

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At first the Adepti didn't notice anything at all, the presence so small and weak it was barely a spark in the vast realm of dreams. However as the presence steadily grew it was quickly noticed by the vigilant Yaksha, the one most acquainted with dreams. Still on edge from the whole incident with the khaenri'ah only a century before he immediately informs the other Adepti and Rex Lapis.

Fearing that the odd presence may be a threat they try to find it's source, but no matter what they try they can't find even a small clue to point them in the right direction. As time passes without further incident Morax seeing no ill will from the presence decided to stop actively searching for the source but advised all the Adepti to keep an eye on it anyway.

For the next few years this is how it stays until one day a Karma ridden Xiao takes refuge within the realm of dreams as he struggles to overcome the built up Karma So occupied by his own suffering he did not realise the presence which had remained dormant for so long awaken and take note, nor did he notice how a mixture of curiosity and worry began to leak from the presence. He did how ever notice when it gently prodded at his soul and despite the wave of panic that suddenly arose at the thought of an unknown entity having access to him in such a weakened state, the presence remained gentle yet firm- taking hold of his spiralling soul and soothing it as best as it could.

After what seemed hours the karma calmed enough that Xiao could completely push it back under control and the presence withdrew slugishly as if exhausted by the whole ordeal before returning to the same dormant state as before. For the next few minutes Xiao remained silent collecting himself before hesitantly he reached for the presence and gave a small nudge.

This time instead of remaining dormant like in previous attempts to figure the presence out, he could feel it waking slightly before giving Xiao a weak mental squeeze as if to reassure him.

With this response from the presence, dawned the startling fact that it was in fact a sentient entity rather than a strange phenomena.

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I'm planning to make a one shot series for this on ao3. So far its likely that it will end up having Xiaoaether in it becuse I love those two dorks so much but it wont be the main focus of the story. My name is The_Walk_Of_Weary_Souls on Ao3. So far these are the planned oneshots:

-After discovering the sentience of the presence Morax enters the dream realm once more to inspect it. He brings with him both gratitude for it's aid with his youngest Adptus's Karma as well as a warning that if it were ever to act up, Morax would be the first to take action.

-Slowly the presence has become more active, able to convey emotions and ideas to any visiting Adepti, even having full out conversations despite not having spoke a word to them. They even managed to figure out that the presence was male after a little while. Steadily the presence has also been wiggling his way into all of their hearts, his actions although limited just exuding his bright personality.

-Despite how posetive the presence normally was, sometimes the Adepti visited to find him in a state of grief and longing. None of them knows the cause but they've made it a habit to just sit and silently accompany the presence through these moments. This time the duty lands upon Ganyu's shoulders.

-Xiao is the first that the presence speaks to, with soft words that just barely seemed to get out. Startled and in disbelief the Adepti attention focuses completely on the presence and after a short silence once more he speaks and this time Xiao is just barely able to catch his words and at last they have a name to call the presence by; Aether.

-With time Aether grows stronger and with it so does his ability to speak and interact with things in the realm of dreams. With this the Adepti Slowly begin to realise more about the origins of their dream dweller who turns out to be even more otherworldly then they ever thought.

-Morax is getting tired. A bone deep weariness has begun to creep into him as time goes on and sometimes it gets the better of him. In these moments he's found comfort in an unlikely place as Aether keeps him company in the dream realm to take his mind off of what plagues it.

-It begins with them catchimg glimpses of a silhouette as they are in aethers presence. Steadily they begin to catch more and more details on the figure that appears more detailed each time It materialised until they finally have a face to put on to the name Aether.

-After another breakdown focused around his sister Aether is comforted by Madame Ping. He finds it's quite nice to spend time with her as she has a wise yet accepting attitude as well as a gentle almost grandmotherly side.

-A truly joyous air surrounds the Adepti as after a long and dangerous pregnancy a small half adeptus girl is born. Xiao naturally quite protective of the baby is one of the first to notice a sudden presence in her room and rushes in only for his heart to jerk when he sees a familiar and unexpected ghostly figure peer into the crib with awe-filled eyes.

-Almost 400 years after Aether originally entered their lives as a weak sputtering little presence, he suddenly dissapers from the realm of sleep sending all the Adepti panicking. Meanwhile in the depths of the Liyue wilderness a body laying motiolessly on a natural bed suddenly sputters to life

Qiqi will have a oneshots but I have to clarify a few things about her timeline before I do that.

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Or in which Aether becomes an Honorary Adeptus instead of an Honorary Knight.