Chapter Text
Lumine knew that returning to Snezhnaya was a mistake.
“It doesn’t look the same.”
Aether cast her a flat glance. She ignored him, staring up at the historical buildings and museums that made up the remnants of Zapolyarny Palace. The shapes of the architecture were the same, but the colors were off. They were too pale.
“Well, it’s been a while, things change.”
“I know that,” she grumbled, “but they could’ve at least tried to be accurate.”
This was actually a problem with most architecture. The people of Teyvat had only realized the importance of historical preservation around 453 years ago. Which was a shame, really, seelie gardens and old ruins were an incredibly rare sight these days. She stared up at the palace. It was only a palace in name, now. The current Tsar and Tsaritsa lived in a newly refurbished castle at the head of town, allowing this historical building to be used as a museum - though not a very accurate one.
“Lumi, are you sure you’re okay?” Aether put a hand on her shoulder. His voice ripped her out of her thoughts and brought her back down to the cold street.
She sent him a smile that she hoped was reassuring, that was all she could really offer. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“We can leave if you want, I can get tickets back to Mondstadt and-“
“It’s fine,” she interrupted, “it’s been long enough, don’t you think? I can’t stay away from an entire country forever.”
“You actually can, it wouldn’t bother me if we never came back here.”
Aether preferred a much warmer climate. He’d found a deep love for Sumeru and Natlan, though Lumine preferred the colder places. It was why she’d spent a good 20 years of her immortality traveling the Snezhnayan countryside. Now that she’d returned, she felt the full impact of this decision. And no matter what she told Aether, she regretted it.
Standing here, in the middle of this city, surrounded by bustling crowds and cars and the familiar architecture. Passers by spoke Snezhnayan, buses honked and groaned from the streets. The hair sticking out from beneath her knit hat was growing damp with the constant downfall of snow. It was louder than before, but the weather was the same. The people still looked grumpy. It still smelled a bit.
“I just need a minute more.” Truthfully, she needed an eternity more just to soak it all in.
He nodded in understanding and patted her back, “I’m gonna go inside and call Xiao, don't wander off too far.”
Lumine wasn’t sure if she could handle wandering off past the palace. She knew that the little restaurant she liked wasn’t there anymore, nor the church she got married in, or the garden where she liked to rest after commissions. It was gone, time tended to do that.
“I’ll be fine,” a shrug and a smile, “I’ll just hang out here.”
There wasn't much else she planned to do in this city anyhow. Aether cast her a glance as he slid through the revolving doors, leaving Lumine to herself on the sidewalk. She pressed her back against the wall of a building to avoid the constant bustle.
Might as well explore what she could stomach, even it was just an alley or two. She’d decided to come to Snezhnaya and enroll in the university here for the sake of getting over that sickening nostalgia, not letting it scare and consume her.
Lumine decided to start with the street beside the palace. There was nothing there but a homeless person.
She moved into the next alleyway, but avoided looking too far down it simply because there was once a wonderful food stand there and she’d be sad to know it was gone.
She slipped through the crowd and made her way towards a less busy area. Taxis waited on the streets as businesses turned into apartment complexes. Lumine watched the changes as she walked and recalled what the landscape once was. That building wasn't there 200 years ago, over there used to be natural hot springs that felt like heaven after a long day. Over the hill, past the sketchy office building, there was a good spot for picnics.
She didn't even notice how few people were around her now. Not until the moment her purse was harshly ripped off her shoulder.
Frantic footsteps against the concrete, the smell of cigarettes wafting off a black hoodie. Lumine’s arm hurt where his hand had scraped, but she had no time to whine over it. The thief was now running away with her belongings in hand.
He really just stole a purse from an immortal swordswoman who’d defeated dragons and gods before. There was something funny about that, even if he didn't know. She rolled her eyes and readied herself to run after the thief, but a hand on her arm stopped her instantly. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a red scarf lying lazily around a man's neck.
“Hey, girlie, hold still. I’ll catch him for you.”
Oh dear Archons above.
It was a waking nightmare. His hand on her arm, the lilt of his voice. Those words. There was laughter in every syllable - she would know, she never let herself forget the sound of it.
It was only until the nightmare of a man shot off towards the thief that she snapped back to the moment. This was real, he was real. She wasn't hallucinating that voice. The owner of said voice was fast, with much longer legs than her. His scarf whipped in the wind behind him as he sprinted down the street and around the corner, disappearing from sight.
Coming to Snezhnaya was a mistake. Yet, that was exactly why she came in the first place, to face these hardships head on.
Besides, just because a random guy has on a red scarf and says ‘hey girlie, hold still’ like that doesn’t mean she knows him. She could totally be hearing things, it wouldn't be the first time his voice haunted her. Really, as a 1,000 year old she knew that her act should be far more put-together. She couldn't be hallucinating dead men in the middle of the street as civilians chased after potentially dangerous thieves.
With a sigh of annoyance at herself, Lumine took off after the chaos. She rounded the corner, immediately catching sight of the black hoodie nearly a block ahead. He was followed by the red scarf. She moved as fast as she could - perhaps, even, using a subtle bit of anemo to move her closer, and closer.
Finally, her fingers gripped the man's hoodie. Gasps from both him and the stranger rang out as she seemingly just appeared behind him. She yanked the thief to the ground and stomped her foot onto his chest.
“You know,” she glared, “it’s really rude to steal a girl's stuff. I bet your mom is ashamed of you.”
He struggled and cursed in Snezhnaya beneath her. Lumine revelled in his shock. It was not often she got into a fight these days; Treasure Hoarders just didn’t work the same anymore, probably because they couldn't carry weapons publically. Life had been rather boring for her ever since that law was passed.
There was hardly any time to soak in the excitement before it was all interrupted by a breathy, amazed, “Wow…”
She looked up. Brown met blue.
The world stopped spinning. Lumine had lost the ability to breathe.
“...Childe?”
Slowly, as if she was watching him in slow motion, he tilted his head, “I’m sorry?”
Same voice. Same face. Same body. There was a hand inside of her chest that gripped her heart and squeezed.
Without another thought, Lumine turned on her heel and ran.
She bumped into people carelessly, ignored their shouts and complaints, then rounded the corner back to where she began. How her feet still managed to push her along, she had no idea. All she knew was that the man back had his face. He was wearing it as if it were his own. She was going to be sick. Lumine ran and ran until she finally caught sight of Aether emerging from the revolving doors.
It was not every day that his twin sister tackled him from the crowd. Instantly, she buried her face into his shoulder and dug her fingers into his arms. Aether wasted no time on returning the embrace, “What happened?”
“Nothing!” Lumine gasped in exactly the way someone did when it was obviously not nothing, “someone just stole my purse, that’s all!”
She wouldn’t ever be so choked up and strangled over a purse. His grip tightened, “Don’t lie, tell me what happened.”
“Nothing,” she hissed.
“I knew coming here was a mistake, we never should’ve-“
“Aether!” Lumine cut in, pulling back to glare up at him, “I want to be able to visit this country without freaking out, and it’s going to take time, okay? I’m fine, I told you.”
He sighed in defeat, “At least tell me where the guy who stole your purse went.”
Hey girlie, hold still.
A red scarf. That shocking voice. Nausea boiled up from her stomach and to her throat, where she forced it back down with a heavy gulp. Hopefully, Aether wouldn't mind her clammy hand-sweat on his hoodie.
“I-It’s fine,” she shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, “my phone’s in my pocket, and the I.D. I had in there was fake anyway.”
His eyes flattened, “How much mora was in it?”
“Does it matter?”
“Guess not,” Aether sighed, “are you sure you don’t want me to go after it?”
Not in the least.
“Can we just go back to the apartment for the night?”
He always patted her head like she was a little kid. While Lumine was the younger between them, she was everything but a kid. He pushed her hat down over her eyes and grinned, “We can have a horror movie night. Or watch Shrek, your choice.”
She frowned and buried her face into her scarf, “Shrek, obviously.”
“Poggers-“
“Aether, how many times have I told you to stop saying that?”
He put his hands up and sighed, “Sorry, I’m just trying to keep up with the times. Gotta stay hip, you know?”
He was a nearly thousand year old immortal and he was worried about being hip. He never failed to make her smile, and that was despite the whiteness of her cheeks and her wide eyes. Lumine looked as if she'd seen a ghost - Aether thought, for half a second, that she just might've.
All she wanted to do was go back to her new apartment, watch a cinematic masterpiece, and forget about the man with the red scarf.
And tomorrow, she will start her first day at the new university, and all shall be well.
All was not well.
A red scarf. A head of ginger hair. Lumine froze mid-step, making Aether run into her back with a light oof and a gasp.
“Lumine?”
No response. Empty eyes and a racing heart. She hoped today would be good, but the universe despised her for betraying it. When she skipped out on her job as a shooting star to save Teyvat from her traumatized, depressed brother, the universe said 'hey, you're about 500 years late for work, you're fired' and then proceeded to make sure she never got a job elsewhere.
When she didn't answer, Aether gripped her arm and followed her gaze to the crowd of college students nearby. “What’s wrong?”
That ghost was what was wrong.
“You know when I lost my purse a while back?”
Aether blinked, “Uh, yesterday?”
“Yes,” she nodded gravely, “well, I saw a ghost, I think. Or something, I’m not sure. And I feel like I just, uh…”
Saw him again. He stood across the campus, sleeves rolled up and hands stuffed in his pockets. Slowly, hoping that he would disappear, Lumine looked at him once more. He, unfortunately, didn't disappear. If he was a ghost then he was doing a terrible job.
Aether followed her eyes, “...Oh.”
Yes. Oh.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He complained.
Lumine rarely felt the need to speak her feelings out loud to Aether, he could read her like a book. Yet, the subject of her late love had always been a point of contention between the two. A ghost/illusion/clone of Childe might be even worse than the flesh and blood version. At least Aether could stab the real version.
Besides, she didn’t feel like thinking about it. “I just assumed I’d never see him again, so why bother?”
He huffed, “You know better than that, this world isn't exactly kind to us.”
It never had been. Ignoring the memories of their pasts, the twins shifted closer to each other, gripped each other’s hands for comfort, and squinted.
From across the layer of grass and melting snow, the imposter laughed. She couldn't hear his voice, but she could imagine it. Light and airy, tinged with mischief, all too familiar. It refused to leave her.
Aether broke the silence, “Well, he’s probably a great great great great grandchild.”
“We didn’t have kids.”
“What about one of his siblings?”
Lumine cast him a flat glance, “How could several generations of mixed nationalities in the Alekseev family churn out a man who looks just like Childe?”
A pause. A thoughtful hum.
“...Genes are weird. Can’t explain ‘em.”
As true as that was, Lumine still found herself unnerved. “Whoever, or whatever, he is... I don’t really want to look at him. Or hear him. Or have him near me.”
“Understandable,” Aether grimaced, “I could kill him if you want.”
“As tempted as I am, no thank you.”
“He might also be a trick from an abyss mage,” he mused, “they’ve been rather active in this area lately.”
Abyss mages tended to nestle within civilization, much like rats within walls. They could be found in the wilderness, but very rarely revealed themselves to humans. Their laughter and tricks had been reduced to campfire stories and paranoid ramblings.
But they were very much real. And they did not like Lumine and Aether.
“I don’t feel like dealing with it, let’s just get to class.” She gripped his arm and pulled him along. The campus was crowded and cold, with dead trees twisting around the sidewalk like arthritic fingers. It was supposed to be a vacation of sorts. She'd picked this place for the nice weather, perhaps for some exposure therapy. There's no better way to get over the death of a loved one than to finally visit his country, especially since she'd been avoiding it for several hundred years.
Yet, right as Lumine began her retreat, a voice cut out across the campus, “Hey, you!”
Aether froze. Lumine nearly tripped over herself in the least graceful way possible.
“Girlie! Hey, hey girlie!”
“Oh my archons,” Aether mumbled in horror, “he’s even got the same voice.”
She groaned, “Point out the obvious, won’t you?”
“That’s so crazy,” he craned around her to get a better look, “Lumi, he’s coming right towards us. Jeez, he’s just as tall. That’s annoying.”
It really was. It was devastatingly annoying. “Hey,” he kept calling out, “wait up!”
Lumine would not wait up.
“Maybe he’s calling someone else.” She suggested.
Aether frowned as his sister yanked him along, “He’s looking right at you. I think he’s holding your purse.”
That just made it worse. Lumine cursed her decision to wear heeled boots today, or else she would be running even faster.
His voice drew closer. She began to realize that this was inescapable. The imposter was determined to speak to her - just like Childe. She couldn't run from him even if she wanted to, he was like the black plague. Defeated, she slowed in her retreat, and Aether yanked his arm away, rubbing the red spot she’d left on his wrist. “Maybe we can get a good look at him and we’ll see that they look nothing alike.”
Maybe. Hopefully. Lumine turned around just as the imposter jogged up to her, familiar blue purse in hand.
He grinned. Lumine frowned. Freckles and ocean eyes, the messiest head of ginger hair she’d ever seen. Nausea rose once more.
“You ran off yesterday without grabbing your stuff. What a coincidence that we both go here,” he held out her purse, “and good thing I left this in my car.”
Good thing, right. Of course. Lumine wanted to scream.
Hesitantly, as if it was a bomb, she took the bag and clutched it against her chest. The only comfort Lumine could find was Aether’s assuring hand resting on her back.
Just like yesterday, this man had Childe’s face. He had his body, his laugh, his voice. Right down to the last eyelash and freckle and crooked twist of his smile. She trailed her eyes down his arms, relieved to find that they were not as scarred as she recalled. That was one difference, one reminder that she was not going insane.
Aether spoke for his sister, glaring, “This is a bit too far, don’t you think? Leave us alone.”
The man with Childe’s face raised a curious brow, but kept his cavalier smile, “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“We know it’s you abyss mages trying to mess with us,” he pressed a finger into his chest, using all 5’5 of himself to seem threatening, “leave my sister alone before I make your species officially extinct.”
A beat of silence. The not-Childe tilted his head. His smile grew eager, but lacked warmth.
Lumine missed that smile like the desert missed the rain.
“If a fight is what you want, I’ll be happy to oblige.” He stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down Aether as if he was a piece of meat. Despite the fact that this not-Childe fellow was about to completely body her big brother, Lumine felt a twinge in her chest.
This had to be some cruel joke. Whether it be by abyss mages, or the gods themselves. It was a sick and twisted game that she was not willing to play.
She stepped between Aether and the imposter, “Sorry, my brother is a big dungeons and dragons fan, he just gets a little too into it sometimes.”
Aether scowled in horror, “You're making me sound like a massive geek!”
“You are a massive geek,” she cast him a glare before turning back to the imposter, forcing herself to meet his eyes, “Thanks for getting my stuff back, I appreciate it. But we’re late for class, so…”
The dark eagerness was instantly gone, replaced with the most innocent smile his stolen face could conjure, “Yeah, no problem. It was fun chasing that guy down, actually.”
Of course it was, not-Childe. Because he was a twisted reminder of her past lover who would adore attacking criminals for fun. All Lumine wanted to do was dissolve into nothingness, and forget about this entire ordeal.
Aether glared over her shoulder. Lumine gripped his arm and ripped him away, “Okie dokie! Uh, see you later!”
Hopefully not.
As the twins left Lumine’s not-Husband behind, Aether leaned in to whisper, “Okie dokie? Really?”
“Shut up, I was nervous!”
“You should’ve just let me fight him, I could summon a sword and-“
“Yes, you could summon a sword in the middle of a campus of human beings who don’t believe in magic or visions anymore, and then get us both kicked out for being insane people!”
Aether frowned, grumpy like a child, “Perhaps we should leave anyway.”
“No!” Lumine stopped mid-step. She hand her hands on his arms, and pulled him closer to look him in the eye, the determination clear on her face, “I will not let some sick turn of events run me out. Whoever, or whatever it is that’s messing with me will get bored eventually if I just don’t pay attention!”
His gaze flattened, “So you’re willing to put up with the possibility of running into that clone on an almost daily basis?”
No. Not in the least. “Like I said, it’ll go away on its own.”
“That’s your dead husband, Lumi.”
“Oh really? I didn’t notice.” She rolled her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Aether sighed, “I just want you to be happy. But if you want to stay in Snezhnaya, we can.”
She didn’t want to stay, but she knew it was for the best. Childe’s death could not keep her away from this country for 500+ years any longer.
It had been long enough, and it was time to heal.
If only she didn’t have literally every class with him.