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| [It isn't ideal that his sister is still sleeping, stuck in stasis inside the star that carried them both here — but at the moment, Aether is trying not to think of it as a downside. It gives him time to scope out the lay of the land, that's all — and the kingdom of Khaenri'ah has even kindly loaned him the captain of their royal guard as a companion for his journey. See the whole of Teyvat, Rhinedottir told him, and when you have seen all that there is to see, come back here and make your decision.
It's not politically expedient to tell people that they're from Khaenri'ah — people react too suspiciously to the godless nation for that — so Dainsleif and Aether decide on simple cover stories: they're outlanders, and they'll arrive in Mondstadt seeking work as adventurers. Easy enough. The Anemo Archon is supposedly in a state of slumber right now, so it will be best to briefly visit Andrius, the great wolf of the north wind; if they are lucky, they may see Dvalin flying in the skies overhead.
The land of Mondstadt is lush and beautiful; temperate weather and blue skies make the climate ideal for growing grapes. Once he's out in the verdant wilds, Aether takes a deep breath while stretching, relishing the scent of wet grass in the air. He turns toward Dainsleif, eyes bright with trust. He's eager to explore.]
Oh — Dain, it's raining!
[Maybe that's the almost-disturbing part — Dainsleif is, by all measures, a difficult man to get to know, and Aether himself, by his conduct in the throne room and in other spaces, appears to be the more measured, guarded type. And yet he's treated Dainsleif with such strange affection from the start — practically buzzing around him, excited for their journey, calling him Dain as if they've known each other forever. Aether shows no shame, no bashfulness.
Maybe it's... not unpleasant.]
We'll have to wear our rain cloaks, huh? [A sunshine smile; a flash of white teeth.] Like we're real adventurers. Haha! | |
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| [The Abyss Mages suggested the use of a simple illusion spell, but Aether hadn't been trustful of the idea. Too flimsy. Too easily dispelled, in a city home to magical prodigies like that "librarian" Lisa and Mona of the Hexenzirkel. A hint of suspicion from either, and his guise would be blown away like so much smoke — to say nothing of what would happen if Alice, that perennial thorn in his plans, happened to return to Mondstadt to visit her daughter and spotted him for what he was.
So: physical solutions, instead. It's nearly impossible for Aether to stuff all of his own hair underneath a conventional wig (and he is, admittedly, too vain and sentimental to cut it when it reminds him of the distant past), so Aether relies on some of the old alchemical experiments with homunculi technology to give himself a false hairpiece that looks and behaves exactly like his sister's unevenly bobbed locks. Transforming his face into hers is the harder part, though not by much; he doesn't need help from the Abyss for that. The right powders, a good sense of three-dimensionality, and some carefully applied lashes do most of the work, taking his sharper, more masculine features and warping them into something more stereotypically soft and feminine. Her dress is the one thing he can't quite bring himself to replicate in its entirety: given practical limitations, he chooses to have a black panel sewn across the front, then pads it just slightly to provide the illusion of bust. It's easy enough to explain. Few would be crass enough to ask a lady why she's decided to cover up, in any case.
Nothing else needs to be corrected. Her petticoat, her leggings — when all is said and done, there aren't that many physical differences between them.
Standing in the mirror and looking at his reflection, he can almost convince himself that she's here with him, having finally seen the folly of the journey, the cruelty of the gods.
His disguise is so convincing that even Katheryne recognizes and greets him by his sister's name as he passes by the Adventurer's Guild — satisfied, he smiles and waves. Good enough to fool her systems, then. He's his sister for the time being, the picture of beauty and purity and grace, despite the telltale absence of Paimon and a certain forced fluidity to his gait. He narrowly dodges a running child; he smiles and nods in acknowledgement to that child's apologetic mother. "I'm fine," he says, in a nearly perfect voice: breathy and floaty and feminine, exactly the way she would say it, but still — not — quite — right.
Is Venti in town? He hopes not. The guise will fool most mortals, but it isn't going to fool a god. Pondering his next move, Aether passes by the Cat's Tail and...
Frowns. There it is, the missing-person poster that's hounded him since his sister woke up. Looking for a missing young male. Blonde hair, wears exotic clothes...
He knows it isn't what Lumine would do — but, inexplicably, there she is for anyone to see her: Lumine, taking down one of the missing-person posters Amber worked so hard to put up. Looking at it with a gaze so disdainful one might think she never had a missing brother at all.] | |
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