XIII

“Let me officially introduce the City of Wind, Dandelions, and Freedom!” Amber called the three of you back to attention. A smile so adoring lit up on her face it scrunched up the corners of her eyebrows. She put her hand over her heart. “Travelers under the protection of the Knights of Favonius - Welcome to Mondstadt!”

Paimon wiggled in the air, kicking her feet slightly as she swayed in the calming breeze. “Finally!” She exclaimed. “No more having to camp outdoors!”

You giggled. “You should’ve come here earlier if you had to do that! Mond takes in all the strays.” You leaned forward with your hand covering the side of your mouth and stage-whispered. “They kinda have low standards.”

You felt a particularly strong whip of wind against your face and it sent you into peels of laughter. Aether hand covered his mouth to hide his chuckles as Amber let out a disgruntled, yet still playful ‘hey!’. Paimon had been looking around while the rest of you had your moment.

“The city folk don’t look too happy ya know.”

Amber made an ‘oh’ face, a pink tint on her cheeks as she forgot to inform them. “Everyone’s been put out of place by Stormterror recently.” She perked up in earnest. “But everything will turn out alright as long as Jean is with us!”

“So down the hero worship girl.” You turned to Paimon with a light smile, ignoring Amber’s sputtering in the background. “Jean’s the Acting Grand Master of the Knights. She’s quite skilled and recently she’s been working her ass off with the whole D-Stormterror thing.” You saw Aether raise an eyebrow but tried to make it look like you never slipped up. You really need to get that under control.

“She sounds pretty impressive.” Aether nodded.

“She is! But before I take you to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, I have a present for you!”

You knew it was the wind glider but you couldn’t help but mumble out a ‘where the fuck did you get a present from?’ as Amber informed Aether that it was a reward for helping the two of you out. As soon as it hit you, bitterness crept in your soul. How the hell had you been in Mond for almost a year and a half and not even thought about getting a wind glider? Where were your priorities?

“Why doesn’t Paimon get a reward?!”

You shook your head. “Paimon, you didn’t even do anything.”

“Paimon was moral support!”

“Yeah okay.”

Amber stepped in, trying to mediate the growing irritation in the fairy and the amusement in you. “This reward is useless to you Paimon, but I'll treat you to a traditional Mondstadt delicacy! Sticky Honey Roast!”

Paimon gasped. “Sticky Honey Roast!” You practically saw the drool dripping down her chin at the thought.

Amber turned back to Aether now that the little fairy was satiated. “Come on! I’ll take you up to the city’s highground.” She turned to you, an eager hop in her step. “Are you coming with us [y/n]?”

Your excitement nearly burst through your chest, but you did your best to keep a composed face, shrugging with faux indifference. “Sure, why not? You can pay me for the work later.”

“Pay you?”

You leaned down towards Amber. “I may be nice, but I’m not free. I still need to eat tonight.”

“Oh well- yeah of course, I’ll get you your payment.” Amber smiled and you returned it, slinging an arm over her shoulder and pulling her close to your side.

The four of you walked, well Paimon floated, up the many staircases that weaved through the city of Mond, giving it a delicate intricacy. You eventually made it to a place Amber deemed high enough, right in front of the statue of Barbatos.

‘So,” Amber practically jerked around to face the three of you, her excitable energy palpable as she bounced on her toes. “The present I wanted to give you is,” She paused for some dramatic effect as she took a small box from her pocket. “A wind glider!”

She handed it over to Aether who looked just as confused as you felt. “Outriders use them to ride the wind.” Amber continued not seeing the blatant question in the traveler’s eyes. “And the people of Mond enjoy them too! I brought you here to give it to you so you could experience it right away!”

“Thank you.” Aether said softly, his eyes filled with unconcealed gratitude. “But how do I use it?”

“Huh?”

You nudged the bunny girl. “It looks like a box Amber, tell him how to put it on.” And me as well, cause I have no clue what that is. You thought to yourself.

“Oh right!” Amber skedaddled behind Aether, taking the slim box from his hand. “You simply have to attach it to the back of your clothes. It’s better to wear tight clothes, and it looks like you are so good, and don’t put it on your skin! It’s quite sticky and we’ve had many adventurers come to the cathedral because they were dumb enough to do so.”

“Why is it so sticky? If it’s dangerous to put on your skin, why would you use it?” Paimon placed a hand under her chin to support the massive brain thunking in her head.

“The adhesive is very strong, it needs to hold you up while you glide silly!” Amber giggled as she attached the small box to Aether’s tight, brown tank top underneath his white scarf that elegantly draped across his shoulders. “But it’s totally fine to use on clothes as it doesn’t bleed through.” Amber stepped back and looked at her work before nodding and taking her place once again in front of the traveler. “Now, wind gliders are fun, but because you don’t know how to use them, it can be pretty dangerous. Listen to my instructions okay?”

Aether nodded and climbed up the small stone structure Amber pointed to, that, if he jumped off would give him just that little bit more leverage to get to the city square if he did it right, and you had no doubt that he would. Aether followed Amber’s instructions, jumping off the point and jerking his arms out to his sides to activate the glider. Sure enough, blue wings with metal lining the tops of the wings sprung out from the compacted box and allowed Aether to start flying between two buildings and near the fountain.

You and Amber followed behind him, rushing down the steps. You only looked on in confused awe (seriously, why the hell didn’t you have one?) and Amber made sure to never let the boy out of her sight, her scrutinizing eyes searching for even the slightest mishap. You were easily amazed by Amber’s intensity towards gliding.

You, Amber, and Paimon joined Aether near the fountain as he touched down, legs and arms stretched out like a graceful swan. As soon as his toes touched the concrete and his hands fell to his sides, the glider snapped back into its box, waiting for the next time Aether took it for a spin.

“You were incredible Aether.” You brushed back a stand of hair that had fallen into his face. “Just like a dove.”

Aether chuckled, his face tinted pink. “It was nice, it reminded me of-” he stopped, smile faltering as he looked to the sky. The longing in his eyes stabbed a neat hole into your heart. “Nevermind.”

“Really? I’ve never heard of nevermind before. What’s it like?” You smiled at his intense eye roll, smile rejoining his face.

“That was so bad it actually kind of hurt.”

“I don’t hear you complaining.”

He laughed lightly. “Thank you.”

You smiled softly, reaching out to ruffle the golden strands of his hair. “No problem.”

The lightened mood quickly soured once more with the speeding wind that carried dry leaves to your hair and the gray clouds blocking out the sun. You were expecting this but it was no less annoying when Dvalin shook your eardrums with his painful roars.

His great body swept atop the city, his cries trembling the roof tops. His large tail hit a tower and sent it crashing. Distantly, as you pushed Aether, Amber, and Paimon away from the destruction, you wondered if the people were okay.

You, decidedly, were not okay when a tornado touched down right behind you and the trio, tripping you up as you tried to get away. You hair whipped in your eye, causing you to trip and loosening the tight hold you hand on Aether’s hand.

The traveler’s feet lifted from the ground, violently being tugged back by the raging tornado, a product of Dvalin’s pain and sorrows. You did your best to grab hold of Aether’s hand once more and pull him towards the ground. The battle was a losing one and when your fingers were the only things hanging on, your palms long slipping away from each other, you said to him the first thing that came to your mind.

“Stay calm and listen to his voice! You’ll be okay!”

Your fingers slipped with one particularly violent tug of the winds and Aether was sucked into the tornado despite your best efforts. Logically you knew he would be fine, playing the game and all that you knew how this situation would turn out, but your protective instincts went into hyper mode and you didn’t think before grabbing the hand of the blond boy and dragging him to safety.

You hustled Amber to a safe place when the tornado finally moved on, but you couldn’t stop thinking about the multitude of emotions that had passed along Aether’s face before he went flying.

-

The attack was a short one, Aether, you knew, doing his best to chase off Dvalin with the air bullets. You, Amber, and Paimon were now waiting out in a nearby building, searching the skies and waiting in anxiety for when Aether would touch the ground much more.

Soon enough you spotted him and the three of you rushed out to meet him. Amber almost ran into him, gripping his upper arms and shooting off a myriad of questions ranging from ‘are you okay?’ to ‘what just happened?’

Aether turned to you, eyes narrowed and his mouth opening to let out what you were sure was an accusation but you frantically cut your hand across your throat and mouthed ‘later’. Aether’s eyes narrowed even more and you were sure his pupils had slit for a near second but gave a small nod and turned to Amber and Paimon, answering all their questions.

Those questions were sadly (not really) interrupted by some slow, dramatic claps, similar to the ones you would give to people when you were trying to be overly sarcastic. Warmth filled your chest when you heard the words from your favorite Cavalry Captain.

“You’ve actually got power to go up against the dragon. Are you a new ally, or a new storm?”