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That One Genshin Twins Age Exploration Fic

Summary:

Just as the title says ;)

You do not need to know anything of Genshin to read this fic, because most of the stuff about these twins are headcanons I have of them pre-lore.

Notes:

Before you attack about the Travellers' suspected age(s), I invite you to the the headcanon word dump I put at the bottom notes.

Also, my native language is English, so don't expect anything phenomenal out of me.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Aether looks around, searching for his sister within the masses of writhing bodies, both dead and alive. A soldier in front of him tries to take advantage of his momentary distraction, piercing forward with a lunge that brings him snapping his body awkwardly to the side as he whips his sword up to slice through the neck of his opponent, melting everything in the body that it touches.

The lad doesn’t have time to continue his search, as he twirls around to deflect a strike from his back, taking the other’s arm and throwing him over his shoulder to knock into another soldier. He doesn't care if he kills the cannon fodder of both armies, for he and his sister had, as usual, elected to simply watch the battles of this world and potentially learn from those who fought within it.

However, as usual, the two end up mixed up in a fight anyway. Quite frankly, he is starting to get irritated by it; even though he and Lumine had made many a friend through shared combat adrenaline, they have better things to do than fighting a war that they hold no care to the outcome of within this mess of a world.

So, with the renewed reminder of his irritation, he plows through the forces of both sides, pushing until he reaches the edge of the fighting. From there, he slips into the mass of extraordinarily tall trees, finding a place upon where he could perch and get a large view of the battlefield in search of his sister.

Eventually, he spies the telltale flash of Lumine’s platinum blonde hair, along with fluttering of the ever-present cape that he had made for her - just as she had made his.

Summoning his wings, he leaps into the air, flying high above the battle and avoiding any flying arrows or balls of… other stuff, as he progresses his way to Lumine’s location.

As soon as he is right above her, he drops hard onto someone behind her, barely registering the telltale crack of a broken back as he grasps her arm and pulls her away from her combat. She follows him, evidently sharing his intentions of escaping this bloodbath.

Once they plow out a relatively clear area, the two take flight, soaring for the clouds high above as they dip around any projectiles that come near them. Soon enough, they are high out of range and sight, hovering together in blissful silence.

“We should leave.”

“I know.”
“Do you want to say goodbye?”

“Only to one. She who isn’t… busy.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the switch spot. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

The twins part, one flying for the abode of their more peaceful friend made in this world, as the other went for the place at which they will leave said world.

 

“Ah, friend! Come in, come in! …What’s wrong? You seem hurried.”

“I’m here to say goodbye. We’re leaving, and I didn’t want to make it seem like I just dropped off of the face of the world.”

“Ah… Well. Come, follow me. There is something I wish to give you.”

The twin follows their friend, down into the bowels of the soil that has been beneath them until now. The tunnel of stone and dirt surrounding them seems almost suffocating, reminding them of a time when they got stuck beneath an avalanche for days on end, having to rely on fellow wanderers to find their sibling so that they could get out. However, they push on, trusting in her to guide them.

Eventually, the tunnel widens out into a cavern, throughout which massive roots tangle, poking in and out of the walls, ceiling, and floor. In the midst of it all, there is a faint green glow, bright enough to be a visible contrast to everything else.

As the teen follows her to the center, they discover that the floor is actually coated in a thin layer of water, making it slightly muddy as they step through it - not that they mind, they’ve walked through worse. Dung is definitely worse than mud, in their opinion - they couldn’t get rid of the smell for weeks!

“Wait here, please.”

They stop, letting her move ever closer to that green glow. Once her form is basically outlined by the light, she seems to scoop up whatever is making the glow, bringing her face close to it. As she holds it close, the light flickers a few times, eventually fading into a passive blue. She steps back, clutching it close to herself as she moves towards the twin once more, the now blue glow diminishing all the while.

By the time she’s next to the twin again, the glow is just a small blue ball with a bit of reflective light.

“I hope you know of the fairies?”

They nod, smiling. They recall their meeting with one of the fairy queens - she had been very nice to the twins, providing them with a place to rest as the two hid from one of the many wars that have torn through these lands in the time that the twins have been here.

“Good… good. This is an advanced healing fairy. Ze would like to follow you in your journeys so that ze may find a new home, since zirs has been destroyed by the mortals’ wars. In trade, ze offers to heal you and any you wish from major injuries. However, ze cannot heal those who are dead, nor can ze stop the body from dying if it is too close.”

The fairy floats onto their shoulder, softly rubbing against their cheek - it is warm, a nice contrast to the slight chill that comes with a cavern with a few layers of water upon its bottom. They smile and cup one of their hands over zir light, gently rubbing along the slight fuzziness that every fairy possesses around their physical form - even the queen they met has it, and it’s honestly one of the best things they’ve felt. Ever.

They look back towards her, opening their other arm for a one-sided hug, to which she gleefully accepts, pulling the two into her own form of goodbye.

“I’ll miss you three so much. Let your twin know, will you dear?”

They nod, smiling tearfully as the fairy nuzzles them once again. The twins have spent a long time in this world - well, long considering the average mortal life here, around seventy to eighty years. Compared to the mortals, the two are ancient with the five centuries spent in this world alone.

Personally, they blame their attachment to her. Not to say that it’s a bad thing, she’s always been rather nice, welcoming, and understanding to them and their twin. It’s been so long since they’ve known someone who’s always been like that, at least during the time they spend in the world.

“You should get going now, friend.”

She smiles sadly, leading them back towards the surface so that they can leave.

“Ze has connected to your shoulder, ze will be safe.”

“What is zir name?”

“Oh, thank you for reminding me! Zir name, it is Aes.”

They nod, petting the fairy before they summon their wings again, taking flight for the location that their sibling should be at by now, if not soon.

 

“Who is that?”

“Ze are Aes. An advanced healing fairy who wishes to join us while ze search for a new home. Zirs was destroyed by the wars.”

“Oh, okay. Are you two ready?”

They nod, stepping in line with their sibling.

“Then, let us hope for a peaceful arrival into the next world.”

Notes:

(1) The destruction that the Twins joined the Genshin world to was the Archon War, thus making them 3000+ years old.
(2) Before the Genshin world, the Twins had travelled across "many worlds". That is not a definitive number, nor does it tell us how long that they may have stayed in those individual worlds.
(2.1) For "many", it depends on the application. "Many" people could be 8 or 9, or perhaps 20 to 30 people. However, "many" in years for an immortal, per say, could end up being 2000+ years or something.
(2.2) In this context, the Abyss Twin seems very knowledgable, considering that they've been in Teyvat for (in this case) 3000 years, as well as 'asleep' for who know how long of that time. As such, perhaps knowledge from previous worlds are guiding them(and Traveller Twin)?
(2.3) Also, I suspect that the Twins would stay in a world for perhaps 100 years or so, max, if they're willing to oversee the descendents of their mortal friends of that world. Perhaps the average would be around 75 to 120 years for the mortal ones.
(2.4) For the worlds where they make immortal friends, I can see them staying for up to maybe 1000 or 2000 years? Depends on the explorability of the world, as well as the relations of their immortal friends with others.
(2.45) Twins are usually a neutral party, okay-
(2.5) What I'm trying to say here is that I've applied the headcanon that the Twins had visited 100+ mortal-friends worlds and at least 10 immortal-friends worlds before Genshin.
(2.6) In other words, I'm making the Twins technically older than Morax, because I can.
(2.61) Uh... 3000 + (Roughly 10000? At least?) + (Roughly 5000? At least?)... Okay, so, roughly 18000 years. At the very least.
(2.61.5) Age headcanons go brrrr-
(2.7) Plus, I make these characters suffer PTSD this way.
(3) Physical appearance for the Twins in Genshin is still 15/16, 17 if we wanna push it.
(3.1) However, they may appear physically younger or older in the worlds that this fic sticks them through. Nothing mentioned specifically, I don't think.
(3.15) These were all written before I actually wrote the fic, tbh.
(4) I may change these as the series goes on.

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