XXXVII

In the back room of a shop for dream examination, sat a beautiful Jiu Feng in her human form. Her pin straight, auburn hair fell like a shining curtain down her back. She sat back on her ankles, a deep breath of sandalwood filling her lungs as she attempted to calm her mind. Her hands were placed on her lap, fingers twitchy with eagerness that she had to consciously put a stop to.

Circulating her breathing, she shut out the rest of the world, retreating into the deep recesses of her mind till it felt like she was floating. Her body felt light, unimportant, as she drifted through her thoughts, expanding to the best of her ability to search outwards.

It was always difficult to tap back into her precognitive abilities after not having done so in so long. The meditation, the expansion, it was always so hard to focus on, especially when she was nervous.

As she drifted, she reached into the void to grasp at the wisps of the future, twining the silver strands through her long, delicate fingers. She brought them closer to her, these wisps invisible to those on the outside, and pressed them to her forehead, driving them into her mind.

Images flashed behind her eyes, quick motions and colors that were hard to discern. Foresight was not a completely reliable practice, and those who know it, know that the farther into the future you go, the more susceptible it is to change.

It just so happens that to see her friend she must go far enough that those colors begin to muddle. See, when she had picked the wisp with the most direct future, it was black, so she went further, and it was still back. It wasn't until she could finally see flashes of green, only green, a forest perhaps, that she stopped, a curl in her stomach and a downward tilt to her lips.

When she came back to herself, the room was heavy with the scent of sandalwood, her incense stick nearly done burning. She noticed her hands curled in a loose claw, done twitching with now exterminated eagerness.

The Jiu Feng huffed and stood, brushing invisible dirt from her qipao to give her hands something to do.

"What magicks are keeping me from seeing your future, [Y/n]?"

-

"We should probably head back to Mondstadt if we want to find any clues!" Paimon chirped, enthusiastically eating her breakfast as Aether poked around.

"Why Mondstadt?" Aether looks to Paimon, not acknowledging the slap on his wrist he knew was from Ariel encouraging him to eat.

"Weeeeeellll doesn't Diluc have his 'connections' and doesn't he keep a close eye on the Abyss? Maybe he's heard of something!" Paimon sticks a chopstick full of rice in her mouth. "And Venti can hear the wind! He might've heard something too!"

Aether paused in his poking. "That's... actually not a bad idea."

"Hey! Paimon can have good ideas too ya know!" Paimon angrily pointed her tiny finger at him, a grain of rice falling from her mouth.

"Not often enough." Aether teased.

"Hey!!"

Now filled with something akin to excitement, Aether pushed away the bowl of something (he hadn't really checked before ordering) and stood. "Let's go pack up. We have nothing to do in Liyue right now, it's early morning, the faster we can get to Mondstadt the better."

"But Paimon's not finished with her breakfast yet!"

-

The road from Liyue to Mondstadt had never felt longer than at this moment. The dusty, dirt path seemed to stretch beyond his sight, fading into the horizon. The wind blew through his undone hair, causing some strands to fly into his eyes, but he found he couldn't care all that much.

When they made camp that night, intending to get to Mondstadt the following morning or noon, Aether brushed his hair silently by the fire.

Ever since that first night you stood behind him, gently detangling his golden tresses, he had never done his hair again. He enjoyed it. The relaxing motions of brushing, you twisting his hair into pretty braids, choosing the select strands to fall and frame his face. It was comforting, an intimate gesture he wasn't quite used to.

Lumine never did his hair, mostly because she never knew how. She preferred to keep her hair short for practicality (and because when she was younger, she thought it made her look like a total badass), so she never learned the proper cosmetology it took to maintain his hair. And that was perfectly fine with him, never feeling the urge to have someone do his hair, but after you'd done it that night by the fire, he never wanted you to stop.

You were gentle and soothing, humming songs he couldn't identify under your breath as both you and him got lost in the quiet calm. Your fingers threading through his hair made him smile. It was an act of care, of comfort, one of the many you had displayed to him throughout your relationship.

But now that he was here, combing out the tangles that the wind left behind from today's journey, he couldn't help that consistent melancholy from bringing tears to his eyes.

-

Mondstadt was like a sight for sore eyes. The waving windmills and glimmering lakes, Vanessa's leaves shaking in the wind as he passed by Windrise. Contrary to the hustle and bustle of Liyue, Mondstadt was in a state of calm, especially now that Dvalin wasn't causing a ruckus.

Except he couldn't help but feel a change in the wind, like instead of caressing breezes, they were sweeping, searching gusts, surrounding him like they were examining every ornament on his outfit.

Venti must've gotten the news. Aether thought, trudging along the dirt path to the stone bridging into the city, Ariel's hand in his own and Paimon talking his ear off.

He walked through the city, enjoying the nostalgia sink into his stomach like a hole. The sun was pleasant against his skin and the scent of sweet, dandelion wine flowing through the air brought a tilt to his lips.

"We should probably talk to Diluc first. I'm not so sure where Venti is, but it feels like he doesn't want to be disturbed right now." Aether commented, already making his way towards the Angel's Share, hoping Diluc would be there today, preparing for the evening when the lively tavern opened.

"Yeah, the winds are making Paimon nervous."

And Aether could tell the same was with the city people. Despite many galivanting through the streets, some, mainly the older folk, had a tenseness to their spine, like a parent was hovering over their shoulder to make sure they weren't slouching.

Finally making it to the Angel's Share, Aether banged his fist against the wooden door, hoping the sound would reach someone.

Not a moment later, the door swung open and standing on the other side was the tavern owner himself. Down to his white button up and black pants, sleeves folded up to his shoulders, hair in a ponytail, and the top few buttons undone. A thin sheen of sweat was on the man's forehead and Aether could tell that he had been working and most definitely not having a fun time in this uncomfortable heat.

"Traveler." Diluc spoke with surprise. One of his eyebrows was raised in confusion which very much highlighted the slight bags under his eyes, giving the impression of light bruises.

"Master Diluc."

"Hi Master Diluc!"

"Paimon." Diluc nodded to the little fairy. "What are you two doing here? I thought you were in Liyue."

"So you haven't heard..." Aether muttered, shaking his head. He knew Diluc would never be so calm if the news of a dear friend disappearing had reached his ears. "May we come inside?"

Diluc simply opened the door wider, allowing the trio to slip inside. "How has [Y/n]'s recovery been? I heard they'd gotten into a terrible accident and were out of commission for a couple months. I had planned to take a visit, but never got the opportunity." Diluc's voice was distinct, a strange mixture of sterness and casualty.

The topic caused Aether to stiffen unconsciously, the wound still fresh and bleeding. "That's actually why I've come back to Mondstadt."

Diluc's brows furrowed. "Has their situation gotten worse?"

Before Aether could mutter another word, Paimon decided to screech out: "They've been kidnapped by the Abyss Order!"

Aether tensed even further when he saw Diluc's carefully neutral face twist with fury. His hands had curled to fists, teeth grinding as he frowned. Sparks popped around his hands, beginning to twirl into growing flames when a quick breath stifled them.

"Calm down, Master Diluc. You wouldn't want to burn this wonderful establishment to the ground, hm?"

Aether, Diluc, and Paimon turned to the voice, and Aether felt Ariel reflexively squeeze his hand. Sitting on one of the bar tables was Venti, or rather Barbatos. Instead of the clothing of a happy-go-lucky bard, the Anemo Archon was almost scantily clad in satiny, white cloth that draped over his form but conveniently let the glowing tattoos across his chest and thigh show. Bright white wings where hovering around his form, golden, armor like accessories only served to make them look more angelic.

But perhaps the starkest difference between the bard and the god was his face. Gone was the smile of carefree joy and gone was the laughter that floated through the ears of whoever he'd come across. Now was a placid expression, stoic in movement, but not in the eyes which burned with the same worry, fear, and anger that Aether felt every night since the Jade Chamber.

"Lord Barbatos." Diluc muttered, not bothering to tilt his head even in acknowledgement of the energy radiating from the creature in front of them.

Barbatos' eyes scanned right over the wine tycoon and straight to Aether. "What brought you back to this one's lovely country?"

"I wanted to know if either of you had any information on where [Y/n] might be." Aether said dully, a sinking feeling in his gut.

"What makes you think we've heard anything?" Diluc's fire had calmed but the glare was still present.

"Well Master Diluc's got connections to a lot of people." Paimon piped up. "And Ven- Lord Barbatos can hear the wind, right? So we were hoping you'd have heard anything about their whereabouts."

Diluc's words were gritty. "I haven't heard a thing."

"Neither have I, not even a breath." Barbatos had leaned back on the palm of his hands, one leg thrown over the other in a lackadaisical display. "But now that you mention they've been taken by the Abyss, it makes much more sense. They must be somewhere, using some kind of magicks to conceal even their breathing so they could be completely untraceable."

"Why did the Abyss want them in the first place?"

Aether turned to Diluc with a complicated expression. "The Abyss had overheard one day that [Y/n] had visions of the future. They used their weakness at being recently woken from a two month coma to kidnap them. I can only imagine the Order would be trying to have them produce visions, or answer questions about the future."

Aether only saw Diluc mouth 'visions?' before turning to Barbatos. "You really haven't heard anything?"

The god's eyes narrowed. "Do you think I'd be sitting here questioning you if I had?" Barbatos' feather ruffled, a huff from his lips.

"Stop." Diluc said firmly. "We will never get anywhere through passive aggressive bickering-"

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Barbatos interrupted.

He must be aggravated, Aether realized. Upset, annoyed, angry, irritated, you name it, the wind god was feeling it. Behind the uncaring facade, Aether could see the hints of those very emotions, and even deeper, could just barely witness the hurt, and pain, and fear.

Diluc took a breath. "We should be focused on how to find them."

"Yes," Barbatos murmured. "I apologize. I've been focusing on listening to information all across the country. I've slowly integrated some parts of Liyue, but I've gathered nothing."

"I'll contact my connections you spoke of. Mondstadt is highly populated by the Abyss. There's a chance they'll have picked up something you missed."

Barbatos merely nodded.

"How long will that take?" Aether's hands twitched with reserved excitement.

"The tavern will be open by the time I'm back, perhaps well into the night. We should meet up later tonight and I'll give you any information I gather."

Aether nodded, some of the knots in his chest unfurling.