Ashes Of The Old World

Oh! Oh! Is that mighty traveler Aether!?

An energetic girl with white hair and a bit of revealing clothes rushed through.

-Welcome to Natlan! I am Mualani! I would love to have the honor to show you around!

The boy she called turned to her, of course, a bit shocked by her energeticness. But he still responded with a smile. His golden hairs were a bit disheveled and tiredness in his eyes can be seen easily.

-Okay okay be calm Mualani! It's nice to meet of course, yet I have to find the Archon of Pyro quickly...

-Archon of Pyro? I can take you to her of course but you seem very tired. Are you sure you don't need to take a little nap before?

-Meh, I have seen worse

But with a yawn, he lets out it was obvious that he can't go on so much. Mualani sighed.

-You should rest dummy, follow me. I know a place for you to stay.

-Uhm, okay? If you insist.

As they were walking, Mualani couldn't hold herself from asking hundreds of questions

-Is it true that you faced against a Fatui harbinger?! That's so cool! I wanna see one of them too!

-Trust me, you don't... Plus I got many help from friends while fighting them

-Was it scary? Or you were the one who scared him? What powers did they possess? Tell meee!

A calm and collected voice came from behind though

-Mualani, are you bombarding people with questions again?

-EH? I don't know what you are talking about..? ehehe

When Aether turned around, he saw a black-haired warrior seemingly a boy, and a... two-dimensional flying pixel dragon? Dragon was small though, as if this boy was keeping it as a pet.

-Ah? I didn't know that the famous Aether would come to Natlan.

This boy was much calmer compared to Mualani for sure, but Aether was still in shock to see that pixel dragon. And for sure he wasn't waiting for dragon to talk suddenly, at least... not that snarky?

-PFFT! I was waiting for someone more muscular.

-Shut up Ajaw, this is someone who beat Archon level threats and saved many regions. Can't you show a bit of respect at least?

-Look at him Kinich! It's like he would start to cry if I landed a punch on his fa- EH?! What are you doing!? LET ME GO!

Then the dragon vanishes with a hand move Kinich did. Both Mualani and Kinich sighed.

-Still creating problems eh Kinich?

-He just never shuts up... Never mind, Kachina was looking for you Mualani. I think you should give her a check, I will take care of our guest

-Ah okay! See you then! Take careee!

As Mualani started to walk away from them, Aether was amused actually. It was funny to see that he was welcomed to the region by two kind characters yet not welcomed by a two-dimensional dragon thingy. He didn't mind though.

This was a new adventure for him after all, new friends, new things to see, new places to wonder. But all he could think was sleep right now. Kinich realized that with a simple look on his face.

-Sorry for creating such problems for you, let's just go and get some rest, shall we?

-Yeah that would be amazin-

-HEEEY AETHEER! Paimon is baaack!

-Oh hooow awesome...

This time Aether was the one to sigh with tiredness. As dual were talking, a little flying fairy came near them. She had a strange crown on her hair and had clothing that didn't fit any region's culture which was strange to Kinich. But he didn't question it.

The moment the fairy reached them, she started talking with both anger and annoyance

-How could you ditch me Aether! I was looking for you everywhere! I thought I lost you!

-You know each other? 

Kinich asked with crossed arms, it was his first time to see a fairy like this. She reminded him of Ajaw though. "I hope my problems didn't just double..." He thought. Well, it was him after all who wanted to help first.

Aether gave a mischievous smirk, probably it was something that would make Paimon mad and she knew it

-Yep, we have been knowing each other for a long time! It's like a bond of... Traveler-Emergenicy food!

With those last words, chaos began between them, yet they were able to calm down around evening times. They have finally reached the place Kinich was leading them to and he bought them a room for a night. After settling everything down, they sat down and started to talk.

-So which wind brought you here Aether?

-Long story, I guess you already know about me looking for my sister...

-I see, but I don't know anything about her, nor that I think anyone here does. Even so, you can try to ask Mavuika. She is the archon here after all.

-It's okay Kinich, I wasn't waiting for you to know things. Mavuika is my reason for coming here, yeah.

-We will take you to her tomorrow of course but, you seem exhausted buddy. Can I ask what happened?

Suddenly a soft but sharp snoring sound interrupts their chat. They both looked at the place where the sounds came from. There Paimon was, already asleep and still holding a small piece of dessert that was a cultural beauty from Natlan.

-This happened...

Aether took Paimon from the couch and dropped her to bed softly, trying to take care of the mess she caused.

-You seem to care about her.

-Even if she is such a mess sometimes, she was someone who was on my side always...

-I see... Then, I won't disturb you for tonight anymore, have a good rest Aether. As I said, we can settle things tomorrow.

After Kinich's leaving, Aether laid over his bed, called into thoughts. This was all new to him, and he was only looking for his sister. He never wanted to pass these beautiful places without even looking... But the thought of something hurting his sister was eating Aether from inside.

The only thing he could do was to hope for the best...

Sun's light was shimmering through curtains, announcing that it was morning. Clumsy voices were coming from the kitchen already. Aether knew it was Paimon trying new foods even at this early in the morning. He got up from his bed and started to get prepared for the day.

-Paimon, stop eating the whole table and get prepared to leave already.

-EH? Are you awake? I... wasn't eating that much anyway.

-Come on, we have to go.

-Already? Won't you eat anything?

-I can eat things on way, come on. We have to find Kinich.

Aether was always in a rush to find his sister, he wouldn't care about himself that much if Paimon didn't always force him to eat things or sleep. They had shared such a strong bond after everything they had been through.

When they got out, they saw a crowd panicking, and chaos wandering around. Both of them were shocked and a little bit afraid, they tried to stop anyone to ask what was going on but everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

-Hey, over here

A blonde short girl was coming through them, she seemed to worry like everyone else but she seemed determined to explain things.

-I am Kachina, there is no time to explain things. I would have loved to spend time with you but we are in a hurry, come with me.

As much as Aether and Paimon were still in shock, they followed her

-Wh- What's going on? I was just eating things in the kitchen a second ago and now there is a huge chaos!

-An abyss attack...

-AN ABYSS ATTACK?!

Kachina was still running somewhere, making sure that they were following. Aether and Paimon still seemed to worry but Aether was always ready to fight. Kachina talked with a breathy voice.

-You were here to talk Pyro archon right? Come on, fast. We should reach her fast so you can get away from war as early as possible.

-Get away from war?

Aether asked and stopped for a second.

-Do you think I would run from war while innocent people are dying?

-YEAH! We can fight too! I mean- Aether can! ehehe- Hey! Don't look at me like that! Of course, I will try to help!

Kachina was surprised to see their determination, but it was fresh air to see that mighty traveler would be on their side too.

-Are you sure..? You two are only travelers, you don't have to attend to regional problems.

-Shush and take us where you are leading dummy, we have a war to attend!

Kachina smiled with a bit of relief and started to run again, soldiers were running and getting prepared for a harsh war. After a few minutes, they reached into a big crowd. And there she was, with her red flame-like long hairs, and her determined eyes. Pyro archon, Mavuika, was ordering people to get ready for a war.

Her voice was firm and commanding, yet it was obvious she was caring towards her people. She can't afford to lose anyone in this war to those pathetic creatures, so her preparation should have been perfect.

-Madam Mavuika! Here, I brought that mighty traveler to you. He has some questions for you.

-Let the questions go, Kachina, I can see it's a bad time Mavuika. What can we do?

Mavuika turned to them, she seemed ready for war. But she needed help as much as she could get to lose the minimum.

-Great timing you two, we have to create a front-line defense. Traveler, I know I don't have to right to order you things right now. Yet I need your help.

Paimon suddenly jumped in,

-Can we pass the chit-chat already?! Yes, we will help! No, no need to thank! So what else is left to do!

Even Mavuika was surprised to see their determination, yet she collected herself fastly and started to talk,

-There is an abyss gate close to the nation, we have already evacuated civilians yet this will be a harsh war...

-We can't win if we won't gonna target that rift thingy, Aether said.

-I have seen something like this before, they will come endlessly if we can't close the gate.

Kachina was deep in thought, soldiers were awaiting orders from them to prepare some things.

-It's in the air. Even if we could have reached there, can we even give it a strong enough strike to destroy it?

-Leave that to me, I will show these pathetic creatures what is it to mess with an archon and her people...

-Can you land a strong strike enough?

-I can't if I was alone. Yet I will need many of your help. Kachina find other commenders and tell them to meet here. Aether, please lead these troops to create a frontline defense. I trust your experiences...

-Got it!

Aether rushed to outside parts of the nation, and there were a few soldiers around him following him.

-Hmph, who is Paimon anyway, she didn't even give Paimon a mission.

-Heh okay okay Paimon, you can cheer up soldiers. You are somehow better than me on this.

-Right?! Hehee!

Soon they meet with Kinich and Mualani on the front lines, yet no one has time to chit-chat. Everyone was in a hurry to get prepared. Paimon was screaming in a silly way about how they would beat up those monsters, yet it was cheering up soldiers and making them work better even in this stressful moment somehow.

Kinich turned to Aether, his voice was still calm and collected somehow.

-Aether, I thought you would just take the knowledge from Mavuika and leave...

-It's a shame that you thought I would run from war, knowledge can wait. There are innocents to save.

-Heh, that suits to mighty traveler anyway. Come on, we still have things to do.

After an hour, the rift started to expand. And suddenly mad abyssal wolves started to come through the gate and rush towards them. This was only the vanguards of the abyss, yet it was a scary scene to see.

-Here they come...

Aether whispered, this wasn't the first war he had joined after all, nor it will be the last.

-FOR NATLAN...

He screamed, filling soldiers with more determination. Even in this horrible situation, soldiers screamed and flamed fearlessly.

-FOR NATLAN!

Aether lifted his sword. Once again, here he was...

Holding countless innocent lives...