Short Death

The arrows kept on firing and destroying my shields. I kept creating new ones of course but I think I won't be able to do this any longer. Just when I was about to give up, an arrow hit one of Dvalin's incoming arrows. I already knew who it was.

"You're late…"

"You just suddenly disappeared, I panicked you know?"

Venti kept on firing at the incoming arrows as I got on my knees. I needed time to recover. Although, he just won't give me a break. Dvalin broke the chains and was charging up some kind of energy ball from his mouth. I couldn't warp anymore due to exhaustion, so I just made a wall from the Domain itself. Venti was trying to cancel his attack out by shooting him before it was fully charged, but he just won't give in. 

"Get behind me!" I yelled at Venti.

Just as he got behind me, Dvalin released the attack. It almost broke the wall as it has a lot of cracks. After the wall collapsed, I immediately made a pillar that will serve as a path for me to get to him. I also chained him so he won't be able to escape.

"Ugh!"

However, I couldn't stand up anymore. My body won't move and I could feel my consciousness fading away. The continuous shield making and when I teleported Dvalin just took a lot from me. I tried and tried, but I just couldn't stand up. It even went to the point where I started coughing up blood. Venti just kept on shooting.

After a few minutes, I could kinda control my body. It still hurts as hell though, I was also still exhausted. Venti was starting to get tired as well. I stood up and leapt to the air using the air propulsion move I used earlier. When I got way above him, I made a platform to stand in the air and charge up another air propulsion.

After charging up, I dashed to Dvalin's nape to cut the crystal. I got ready to do a slash and when I was about 2 feet away, I felt something piercing me from behind. I just thought it was a bit of back ache, so I continued on and slashed the crystal.

The crystal broke, which means one thing…

"We won… we won! Venti, we-"

I was happy that we won. I was going to tell Venti to celebrate with me, but his face was in horror when I looked at him. I wonder what made him make a face like this. However, I soon knew why he made a face like that when I looked at where he was looking.

"Ugh!"

The pain kicked in right after. There was a gaping hole right where my stomach was. This must have been caused by that piercing pain earlier. I was not really paying too much attention to my surroundings earlier, so he could have been waiting for me with an attack.

It was seriously painful and I could already feel like I'm dying. My ears started ringing, I started coughing up blood, and I also couldn't move anymore. I tried to teleport to the nearest Statue to heal myself up, but I couldn't. I can't die here! I still need to find Lumine! I still have a lot to do in life!

"I can't die…" I was already losing my breath.

"H-hang in there. I'll bring you to a Statue and bring you back home, so please hang in there!"

Those were the last words I heard before I fully lost consciousness. One thing was for sure… I died.

---

Venti woke up Dvalin and told him to get them out of there. Dvalin agreed and turned into a gust of wind and then carried Venti and Aether's lifeless body. When they got out of the Domain, they saw that they were just ways off from the tree in Windrise where a Statue of The Seven is located. Venti hurriedly told Dvalin to go to the statue.

When they arrived, Venti hurriedly put Aether's body near the statue. He was nervous, but when he saw the particles of the statue going to Aether, he was relieved. If he was just a few seconds late, Aether's soul would have completely left his body. Although he was already dead, his soul just took its time leaving his body. He was holding on.

Venti waited until Aether was fully healed until he told Dvalin to take them to Aether's dorm. Dvalin wasn't really sure where it was, but Venti told him he'd guide him. Dvalin turned into a gust of wind and carried the two. Whenever Dvalin does this, the other two will also turn into gusts of wind like him.

They arrived at Aether's apartment and laid him on his bed. Mona was sleeping on the kitchen table, so they decided to wake her up. Right now, Dvalin was not in his big dragon form. He was just a little Seelie.

When they explained what happened to Mona, her eyes were filled with horror. Why wouldn't she? They said that her lover was dead. However, they told her to not worry anymore because Aether was already revived and that he was now sleeping soundly on their bed. They told her to tell him not to move too much. After that, they said to tell him their apologies and left. 

Mona went to the bedroom and sobbed. She took a chair, sat beside the bed, and held Aether's hand.

---

I slowly opened my eyes and saw the familiar underside of a bunk bed. I was back home, but how? Wasn't I dead? How could I have lived? Did Venti revive me? I tried to stand up but my body was hurting so bad. I felt a warm and soft object holding my hand so I looked. It was Mona's hand. She was holding my hand while sleeping. I guess she already knows what happened.

"Ngh…" she woke up and looked at me. When she realized I was awake and was staring at her, her eyes widened and she began tearing up.

"You big idiot!"

She hugged me tightly as she sobbed. It hurts a lot, but I'll endure it for her. I tried my best to hug her back and was successful. I then heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. When I looked at the direction of the kitchen, I saw the girls coming out. Amy, Noelle, Barbara, even Ganyu and Keqing. Paimon was also with them of course. They all had the same reactions as Mona and began running towards me. They couldn't really hug me because I was on a bunk bed and because they know that I might still be injured.

After they all calmed down, I asked them how long I've been out.

"You got here 3 hours ago and you were already unconscious by then. If I go by what the bard told me, he should have brought you here right after you were healed." said Mona.

That's weird, I could have woken up right after I was healed, but that wasn't the case. I also felt like I was just put back together when I woke up… Ah, so that's how it is.

"My body was alive but my soul wasn't complete. That's the reason it took so long for me to wake up." I muttered to myself. Although, I think everyone heard it.

"Please don't do something as reckless as this again." said Mona.

I just smiled at her since still can't exactly stand up. Guess the Statue couldn't really remove all the pain. If I keep experiencing pain like this, my pain tolerance might go up. Not that I want to get more hurt.

I tried standing up to see if I could at least do that, but the girls scolded me and told me that they'll handle things at home. In short, they'll take care of me. Being taken care of by six girls is like a dream come true.