Chapter Text
“So what you’re trying to say is that you fell here, from another world…”
She nodded almost imperceptibly.
“But when you wanted to leave and go on to the next world, your path was blocked by some unknown god?”
Lumine thought it was quite a short summary for everything that happened, but Paimon was right. Even though her memories were still a bit blurry, she could still remember the situation that brought her here, with nothing but a deep, odd mix of sorrow, guilt and rage.
Her mind went back to the only clear hint of her past:
In the middle of the cloudy but bright sky of this world, Lumine stood by her brother’s side as they were ready to leave, ready to step foot in another planet, another civilization; another side of the endless space of the universe.
But every journey has its own complications, and this one was, by far, the most painful and difficult one Lumine ever faced.
“Outlanders.” A feminine, sharp voice cut through the silence of the interminable sky, making them both freeze. A woman stepped out from a red, diamond-shaped dimension. Her face was completely blank as she continued talking. “Your journey ends here.”
“Who are you?” she said, feeling more agitated every second that passed after the goddess' appearance.
“The sustainer of Heavenly Principles, the arrogance of mankind ends now.” As soon as she stopped talking, the first attack appeared, then the second one, and the third one.
With no other option but to fight, she and her brother shared a glance and started to counterattack the goddesses strikes. They let their wings out and imbued their own swords with part of their powers.
Charging towards her was almost impossible, however, they still managed to do it.
When Lumine thought they got her, the Heavenly Principles stopped their attacks like it was a children's game, one hand for each sibling. With just a glance, Lumine felt herself forcedly being pulled away from the fight. Then, the reason for her nightmares. Her brother, surrounded by those red cubes, screamed her name.
“Lumine!” He yelled, sticking out an arm like he was trying to reach her. Then gone, it was like the presence of Aether just…vanished.
That hurt more than anything else; blinded by her rage, Lumine charged against the Heavenly Principles once again, this time on her own. The outcome was obvious, if two couldn’t lay a finger on her, how could one, with nothing but desperation in her movements, expected to overturn this situation?
Starting to get surrounded by the same cubes as her brother, she tried her last shot. “Wait, don’t go! Give my brother back!”
Then, everything went black.
“And just like that, the god took away my brother. Some kind of seal was cast upon me, and I lost my powers. So while we used to travel from world to world, we are now trapped here.” she finished explaining.
Paimon asked how many years ago this happened.
“How many years ago was it? I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” Lumine manages to say; bringing back those memories, plus the fact that she doesn’t even know how much time they have been separated from each other, makes her feel a bit emotional.
After a few seconds, she started to dwell back on recent events “When I woke I was all alone until I met you, two months ago.”
“Yeah, Paimon really owes you for that. Otherwise, Paimon would’ve likely drowned.”
Two months ago, Lumine was just starting to realize how lonely she felt. After she woke up, it took her a few weeks to understand how this world worked in comparison to the other ones she’s been in. Learning to cook decent, edible food was the first thing she did. Hunting and fishing were the second ones in line, and that’s how she met Paimon.
Two months ago, she decided she was tired of eating her fruit and vegetable diet she put herself into. Hunting was easy, an everlasting necessary knowledge every traveler should know. Fishing…was a different story, in her defense, Aether was the one in charge of all of it.
Her first try was in this world, and it successfully failed.
After hours of making a fishing rod, she felt ready to use it. She swung it and threw it inside of a lake. Not even a second later, the fishing rod shook uncontrollably and Lumine had to pull it hard.
Between cries and coughs, a floating creature with white hair thanked her and decided to stay by the side of the stranger who just saved her. She introduced herself as Paimon.
Two months ago, was the first and last time Lumine would ever go fishing, it didn’t bring her food but it brought her company, comfort and a partner. She would never trade that for anything else.
“Paimon will do her best to be a great guide!” That brought her back into reality.
Lumine just gave her a soft smile in response.
“So…we should head off, let’s get going!” Paimon enthusiastically said, urging her to move forward.
While walking, Lumine spotted something she never saw before. “What is this?”
“Oh! Paimon knows this! This is called a teleport waypoint. These are structures created by the old gods who ruled this world; after they were gone, no one, except maybe for some archons, was capable of using them.”
“Archons?”
“Yup, the archons are the gods of each nation in Teyvat. Every nation is like a representation of the archon.”
“I understand. How do they unlock these waypoints?”
“Um…Paimon doesn’t exactly know how,” she scratched her head. “but I guess we have to find out!”
Lumine followed Paimon to the teleport waypoint. Her guide invited her to inspect it, so she did. As soon as she put a foot near it, the structure shone, an intense blue light surrounding it.
“Wow! It seems like you are able to unlock them!”
“It seems like it, maybe because I’m not from here?”
“Could be! This is a useful tool during our travels, so every time you see one of these, make sure to unlock them!”
The girl nodded and they both moved forward again. After a while, Lumine asked Paimon where they were going.
“We’re off to a Statue of the Seven!” Paimon exclaimed. While she floated, Lumine had to climb. She wished to have the same ability as her. “Which of the Seven are you looking for exactly?”
“I mean, If they are the gods of the nations, I’m guessing they have some information about my brother, but I don’t know exactly who I am searching for.”
“Paimon understands! She’ll do her best to guide you through the nations!” the white-haired girl exclaimed with excitement, moving her hands in the air.
“I really appreciate it, Paimon.” Lumine meant it from the bottom of her heart, Paimon has become such an important companion in her short time here.
Paimon looked like she was about to say something, but interrupted herself at that moment. “Oh wow! Look, Lumine!”
They reached the top of a mountain; in that spot, the Statue of the Seven was clearly visible. It was stunning, the silhouette of it blended perfectly with the beautiful city behind it, being the center of the nature that surrounded them.
“That’s the Statue of the Seven,” Paimon pointed at it. “There are a few of these statues scattered across the land to show the seven’s protection over the world. Among the seven gods, this God controls the wind.”
Lumine knew that in this world elements also existed. Right now, she isn’t capable of controlling any of them, but she hopes this god will bless her.
“Paimon’s not sure whether the god you’re looking for is the Anemo God, but Paimon will take you to the Anemo God’s place first and there’s a reason why!”
She seems to have concentrated on her task to guide her, so Lumine just lets her talk while she absorbs all of the information as they were heading to the Statue.
“As we all know, poetry and language flow like the wind. There’ll definitely be someone there who knows about your brother; at least, that’s what Paimon thinks, whether the gods answer you is a different story. You never know unless you try, so let’s hop to it!”
Lumine swam a little to get to the Statue of the Seven and decided to do exactly the same as she did with the teleport waypoint.
When she got near it nothing happened, so she decided to touch the Statue. This time, a light blue radiance left the hands of the man on top of it and headed her way. Lumine felt something different inside of her, so she decided to try it with some slimes who were a few meters away from them.
Whirlwind.
“Did you just feel the elements of this world? As much as they want it, people in this world can never get a hold of power as easily as you.”
“Interesting…”
“If we keep heading west from here, we’ll eventually reach Mondstadt, the city of freedom. So perhaps because you got power from the God of Anemo, you can find some clues there.”
“That makes sense, let’s get going then!” The mere thought of finding her brother made her feel motivated.
“Okay!” Paimon let out a soft giggle and started to float to the west side, gesturing her to walk again. “There are also lots of bards there, so perhaps one of them has heard news about your brother.”
“Mondstadt is a great way to start, then.”
“Paimon is always right! Trust her! Paimon is jealous tho, why doesn’t Paimon get cool fighting powers?”
“You can fly and float, I think that’s such a cool power.”
“You’re right,” Paimon nods. “But still get tired! Paimon would love a quick nap right now…”
A loud sound emerged from the sky; an enormous dragon appeared, heading over to some specific way.
“Woah! There’s something huge in the sky! It’s headed towards the heart of the forest, we must proceed with caution…”
Of course, they needed to go through the forest to get to the city.
With each step carefully calculated to avoid making unnecessary noise, they reached the center of the forest; the place where the dragon was heading just a moment ago. Paimon called her attention, and she hid behind a tree.
Peeking through it, Lumine saw what was going on. The scene was unlike anything she had ever seen here, a seemingly bard consoling the dragon they saw earlier. She caught him saying:
“Don’t be afraid. It’s all right now, I’m back.”
“Is he…talking to a dragon?” Paimon questioned, confused.
Right at that moment, Lumine’s new element reacted in a strange way, drawing the dragon’s attention. The big creature roared, breaking the peace of the quiet forest. The bard asked who was there, and then just disappeared, leaving the dragon and both of them there.
Luckily, the beast wasn’t in the mood to attack them, it just flew away from the forest, leaving to its place, probably.
Lumine felt a wave of relief through her whole body; she thanked the gods, she knew she was definitely not prepared to face a dragon at this moment.
A shiny red object caught her and Paimon’s attention, it was right at the same place where the dragon was just moments before. They went to check what it was.
“Be careful, Paimon doesn’t have a good feeling about this.” Yeah, Lumine could relate. “Paimon has never seen a stone like this before, so Paimon can’t tell what it is. It looks dangerous, best we put it away from now.”
Carefully, she wrapped her fingers around the glimmering red crystal, stuffing it into her bag.
“So much better. C’mon! We have to reach Mondstadt!” Paimon said while rapidly flying away from there.
Lumine met Paimon just two months ago, but she could sense that this incident somehow frightened her, so she followed her without asking any questions.
They were finally close to Mondstadt, the city’s bridge and entrance was already in their sight. Lumine was starving and she knew that Paimon was too, she hoped to get to Mondstadt without any more interruptions.
“Hey you! Stop right there!”
God, her luck was really something else.
A girl with medium-length brown hair, bunny ears and dressed with some red and brown clothes appeared in front of them.
“May the Anemo God protect you, stranger. I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius. You don’t look like citizens of Mondstadt, explain yourselves.”
Ah, her biggest problem right now. Lumine still can’t understand this world’s language; apart from some words and basic phrases Paimon taught her, she didn’t really know anything else. She understood that the girl’s name was Amber and something about her being a knight, nothing else.
Paimon takes over the conversation, then translates it to her.
Amber asks her something and then looks at Paimon. Lumine gets what she’s asking.
“She’s…emergency food.”
“Hey! That’s even worse than being a mascot!”
Lumine just laughed and waited for Amber and Paimon’s conversation to end, she was curious about what’s going on. The two girls stopped talking and Paimon turned to her.
“Basically, the dragon we saw earlier is tormenting Mondstadt. Amber will escort us to the city, she says she’s busy but still can do it. Paimon thinks it is because she finds us suspicious, somehow.”
She sensed it was something among those lines, the tone of voice that Amber used sounded a little too aggressive and kindly frustrated. Lumine feels that she is not a bad person, just stressed about the current situation in her city.
“Okay, tell her we’re following her.” Lumine told her partner.
Paimon nodded and passed the message to Amber, the girl started walking and they followed her.
Amber and Paimon continued talking throughout the whole way, Lumine caught a few words like “brother”, “travel buddy”, “find”, “family” and “city”. She deduced that Paimon explained their situation. For Amber’s reaction, the topic of family seemed to hit some nerve on her.
Maybe she had some missing family? Or some eldest siblings out there?
She’s determined to find out once the dragon’s situation is over.
“Uh? A Hilichurl?” She heard Paimon’s wondering.
“C’mon!” Amber said, and started to fight one of them.
The girl prepared her bow and aimed the arrow towards the so-called Hilichurl: a monster with a face mask on, not very scary if it’s up to Lumine’s opinion.
“She says that these monsters are not supposed to be this near to the city, and her task this time is to clear out their camps.” Paimon whispers while Amber is talking.
“I guess we have to return the favor somehow, I’ll help her.”
After easily slaying a few normal Hilichurls and a big one with an axe, the camp seemed to have dissipated and no more of these monsters were on their sight.
“Ha, nothing to it! Though I gotta say you surprised me with your moves there.” Amber addressed her. “Thanks for the backup, how’d it feel?”
Paimon immediately translated. “Didn’t even sweat a bit.” she answered.
Amber just laughed while looking at her with a flicker of respect in her eyes.
Her travel buddy asked her something, repeating the phrase so Lumine could also understand it.
She was wondering how the Hilichurls ended up there and Amber responded with something about a dragon called Stormterror attracting them to the city.
At least that’s what she understood. Anyway, the conversation ended with a determined Amber, it seemed like they were finally getting to Mondstadt.
They encountered a girl on the way to the city named Lynn, who invited them to cook and then praised Lumine for her techniques and flavors. She ended up giving them a chicken and wild mushroom skewers recipe. Paimon had a brilliant aura after that, food made her happy.
The moment they stepped off the stone bridge and walked through the tall gates of the entrance, Lumine could feel herself being uncontrollably amazed, Mondstadt was such a breathtaking place.
Colorful flags hung from the houses near the entrance, making Lumine feel strangely welcome despite being a complete stranger. The grand Windmills that could be seen from every corner of Mondstadt were a perfect representation of liberty and freedom, fitting perfectly into the city’s and its God’s narrative. The markets, the water fountain and even the big statue peeking over a giant wall were elements that contributed to the mesmerizing view that Lumine was observing.
Mondstadt was genuinely beautiful.
“Let me officially introduce you to the city of wind, dandelions and freedom. Travelers under the protection of the Knights of Favonius, welcome to Mondstadt!” Amber exclaimed with a warm tone.
“Finally! No more having to camp outdoors!” Paimon cheered. “But…the city folk don’t look too cheery.”
“If Stormterror is around, I suppose that happiness is not exactly the predominant feeling over here, Paimon.” Lumine whispers to her.
“Ah, you’re right! Paimon kinda forgot about it, sorry….”
“You’re fine, Paimon. Everything will turn out fine as long as Jean’s with us.”
“Jean?”
“Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius; Jean, defender of Mondstadt.” Amber stated. “With Jean on our side, surely the vicious Stormterror will be no match for us.”
Lumine caught the “Knight of Favonius” title again, it seems like she is like one of the leaders of that organization. Jean gave her the impression to be someone important.
“Before I take you, girls, to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, I have a present for you, traveler.” Amber smiled at her.
Lumine discreetly talks to Paimon. “What did she call me? What does that mean?”
Paimon not so discreetly talks to her back. “Traveler, she called you traveler.”
Amber waited until we stopped our interaction to keep talking. “It’s a reward for helping me clear out that Hilichurl camp.” Paimon helped to translate it.
“Hey! Why doesn’t Paimon get a reward?”
“Uh…Because this reward is useless to you, Paimon. But I’ll treat you to a traditional Mondstadt delicacy: Sticky Honey Roast.”
“Sticky honey roast!” Lumine and Paimon cheered at the same time.
Amber invited them to go to the tallest part of the city, and they just followed her.
While they were going up the infinite stairs, Lumine was thinking about a way to improve her Teyvat’s language faster. It makes her frustrated when she can’t understand what people are saying; she noticed it now. After months of being alone, she didn’t find a reason to learn it, now she has one.
Amber seems to be such a nice girl, she just met her like an hour before but the girl already understands her situation, she waits a few seconds after she says something so Paimon can translate it to her. She’s considerate and empathetic about the people that surround her.
She’s the clear transparent type of person and Lumine likes it.
But still, she needs to take more intense lessons about the language, she can’t let it be that big of a barrier that eventually will hinder her chances to find her brother.
After a couple of minutes, the high ground of Mondstadt did not look too far now, just a few steps away. The Statue looks more majestic the closer she gets, the view from the top is magnificent.
“So the present I want to give you is,” a moment of expecting silence “a wind glider!”
“Oh! Paimon gets it!” she turns to her “Lumine, they are like wings!”
“Wings? Fly?”
“Exactly!” Amber interfered, excited. “You’re getting the grasp of the language already, good job!”
“Thank you!” Lumine smiled widely. Amber’s praise made her heart warm almost instantly.
“Outriders like me, and people of Mondstadt love using them too! I believe it’s an important gift so you can live the experience too. The wind is the heart and soul of Mondstadt.” Now, Lumine felt lost again, she’ll be forever thankful to Paimon for being so patient with her.
“Enough talk! Let's give them a whirl!” Amber said, animated.
Amber warned her to follow some instructions and gave her a list of tips. She made sure to remember them all. Lumine waited for Amber and Paimon to give the green light and she jumped off of a cliff.
With the wind glider expanding and supporting all of her weight, she was capable of looking around the city, this time, from above. Every time she looked around, she found something new about this place, Lumine loved it.
After landing on the side of the center waterfountain, Amber congratulated her for her good skills. Lumine didn’t find it challenging, considering she had real wings before…it happened.
She believed that her thoughts made the air feel this thick and suffocating, but until Amber walked in front of her, then she realized that the clear blue sky was now cloudy, radiating such a dull grey color. It didn’t fit Mondstadt at all.
Drastic changes were never a good sign.
The dragon they saw earlier was now flying above their heads. Just its presence was enough for the people around them to start shrieking and running away. The creature started circling and inspecting the city, just for it to create massive whirlwinds, making the people start screaming louder and causing even more chaos.
One of the whirlwinds approached them from behind, absorbing Lumine and leading her into the sky. She had to thank Amber for her gift, otherwise, staying up in the sky with no injuries would’ve been impossible.
Still, staying quiet up there wasn’t an option when the dragon seemed to mark her as its target. Was it because of what happened in the forest with that bard? If that was the case, Lumine would’ve apologized as if now.
The blond girl managed to dodge a direct impact from the huge blue beast. With such a sudden and forceful movement, she expected to be falling and crash into the land. Surprisingly, she stayed there, floating in the middle of the sky.
Paimon seemed to be wondering the same thing, her voice resonated in her head. “Huh? How are you staying afloat like this with just a wind glider?”
She was about to answer when suddenly she heard another voice. “I’m preventing your fall with the power of a thousand winds.”
What? Lumine could understand this person.
She instantly assumed it may be the Anemo God, the way he could generate strong winds to make her float, plus the fact that he spoke her language, made him the best candidate of them all. Even when she didn’t even meet him before.
“Now, concentrate. See yourself grasping the wind, harness its energy.” She felt like a fool for closing her eyes and following the stranger’s words, but it was her only choice right now.
A glimmering light blue power, beautifully almost-blinding like the city, formed in her hands. The wind itself helped her with it, sending short attacks to the dragon’s scales. It groaned in pain and quickly fled away from there. Lumine almost felt pity for him, if it wasn’t for the fact that it tormented a whole city.
After calming down her uneven breathing, she landed by the side of the statue of the Anemo God, at the top of the city. Could not make a single thought because Amber rapidly asked her something, stopping her from fully processing the situation.
She didn’t understand her, but it was quite deducible what she was trying to say.
“No hurt, me good.” Lumine reassured her, thumbs up.
Amber nodded with a notorious forced smile, the situation must really caught her off guard.
The faint sound of footsteps was enough to make her wary, again, of whatever was approaching.
Lumine looked at the person who was walking over them, a guy with a pirate-looking eyepatch. Cool style, in her opinion.
He started clapping while he walked, like it was the beginning of a show. His voice was sharp enough to make faint chills run down her spine. Literally, chills.
He and Amber talked for a bit, the girl introduced him then kept talking. She guessed she was explaining everything that happened.
Lumine could feel the gaze of this guy upon her, like reading a puzzle that’s still incomplete. His name was Kaeya, and was part of the Knights of Favonius, where Amber was too.
When they ended their little talk, Kaeya turned to her and started talking. All Lumine could do was just smile and nod, Paimon answered every question he seemed to have.
Then, he left. Paimon let out a small sigh. “The eyepatch guy told us that no small number of citizens watched you fight against the dragon, the Acting Grand Master of Favonius, Jean, was really interested in meeting you and formally invited us to the headquarters.”
“As a matter of now?”
“Yup, we must get going now.”
Paimon turned to Amber and talked again, probably about Kaeya and what he said.
They started to walk to the headquarters, following Amber’s lead.
“I’m huuuungry.” Paimon whined.
“I could beat the dragon in a fistfight right now if the prize was a sticky honey chicken meal.” Lumine joined her.
“If Paimon’s honest, she’d be no surprised if that really happened, she can totally see it.”
“...Yeah, that dragon doesn’t know who it messed with.”
They both laughed at that, it was great to feel how the sense of humor did not disappear after everything. Even Amber was smiling.
The gates of the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius were in front of them, closed but welcoming at the same time. Like the city itself.
Staring at the door, Lumine couldn’t help but feel somehow anxious. Damn, she fought a dragon in the sky a few moments ago, and meeting new people is worse than that for her? It’s just the temporary leader of Mondstadt, surely it will be something quick and then they’ll be free.
“Lumine? You’re coming?” Paimon asked with that expression in her face, the one that knows that the blonde girl is overthinking. Her companion stood beside Amber in the entrance of the building, she did not notice it before.
“Yes, let’s go.” She said in the language of this world, which made the both girls that were waiting for her, smile.
The first thing they saw when they entered the headquarters was Kaeya leaning against the wall, in front of a door. When he heard footsteps, he quickly opened his eyes and stared at them.
“Took you a while. C’mon, they’re waiting inside.”
He opened the door for them and joined last. “Jean, I’ve brought them.”
While Kaeya talked, Lumine decided to analyze the girls inside the room. One of them was Jean, that’s all she knew, and her instincts told her it’s the blond girl with a ponytail. The other one had the appearance of a witch, light brown hair and electric green eyes; with purple being her predominant color.
Lumine snapped out of her thoughts when Jean started to talk to them. “Welcome to Mondstadt, windborn travelers. I’m Jean, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius.”
She and Paimon smiled at her. “Do you need me to translate?” The floating girl whispered.
“No, don’t worry, I understood almost everything.”
“This is Lisa, our resident librarian.”
Lisa chuckled. “Oh, are you sweeties here to help us out? You’re both so adorable.”
Oh, this time she did not understand anything at all, but she kept smiling at her. Like it was some kind of response and apology at the same time.
The green-eyed girl kept talking after that, Jean joining after her. “...We simply ask that you’re opposing Mondstadt while we seek out your brother.”
“We can’t let you do all of the work, Paimon will help too!” Lumine nodded at that.
“Can’t she speak up by herself, or by any chance, you know everything she’s thinking?” Kaeya asked with a condescending tone.
The blond girl couldn’t understand what he said, but words are not the only way of communicating. His body language, his expression, the way he shifted the weight of his legs from one to other while he asked, the voice tone he used.
It wasn’t a malicious comment, no, it was worse. It was suspicion, it was him suspecting her of something she wasn’t even sure of.
“Well…Paimon’s the greatest guide ever for a reason! Don’t worry eyepatch guy, if you’re looking for something to blame, we are not your best option, to be honest…”
“Oh, don’t be so defensive, little one. I am just curious about your dynamic.” He said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, well, his eye.
Huh? Now Lumine’s lost again. The great ability she has gained over these months of reading people –just Paimon in reality– now doesn’t give her much help. Kaeya seems to have his emotions under control again and he’s really good at acting like it.
“Let’s continue with our main issue. We need a plan.”
…And they all started to discuss something again. Their postures were more tense than before but at the same time, more confident.
Everybody started to leave the room after talking, Paimon quickly caught her up on what was being said. Stormterror’s power comes from abandoned Four Winds Temples, and they were going to deal with only three of them for some reason.
The first temple wasn’t far away from the city, Amber was waiting for them outside. She and Paimon started talking, probably about the history of this place, then walked to the entrance.
Inside this place, even the wind was different; more suffocating and with a higher pressure.
The temple was in ruins: cracked walls, fallen pillars and with moss creeping into every hidden corner, but thankfully, the path was clear enough to walk without any problems. They were finding chests, some ingredients and even small weapons inside a few wood boxes on their way to their destination. Paimon and her could also witness Amber’s ability with the bow and her elemental one: summon a bunny as bait just for it to explode and kill the enemies.
Lumine thought it was amazing.
When they finally got to the top, a strong, windy turquoise “ball” was waiting for them there. It was the dragon’s breath, according to Amber. It was as simple to track it down as to destroy it.
Amber spoke to them, knowing that Lumine couldn’t catch on everything but trusting Paimon to translate it for her. Which she did.
Basically, she recommended Lisa to explain to them the whole story about Stormterror and the Four Winds. Lumine was also thinking of speaking to her to see if she can help her to learn more about the language, so it was a great suggestion.
The bunny girl then accompanied them to their next temple, in which Kaeya was standing outside.
“Come here, do you smell it? It’s the smell of the wind inside, things must be very agitated inside it…”
“Yeah, lots of monsters but easy.” Lumine managed to say, struggling less than before to find the right words.
“Oh, that’s the attitude! Less talk, more fight; let’s clear this easily then.” He walked inside with a grin on his face.
This temple was almost as easy as the one before, with the difference that Kaeya’s element, Cryo, stood out thanks to the amount of water and fire inside. When they reached the top, the dragon’s breath was waiting for them, like before.
“So…you do understand something. Don’t ya?” The Cryo guy referred to her.
“Yes, little words.”
“It's a few words, actually.” Paimon whispered to her.
“Sorry, a few words.” Lumine corrected herself almost immediately, fidgeting with her fingers behind her back.
“Don’t worry, blondie. I’m not trying to be mean or anything, but I grew up with my guard up. You’re a new, unknown variable to the problem we’re trying to resolve here.”
Lumine heard a shift in his tone; it still had those sharp edges of suspicion and distrust laced in every word he said. But those sharp ends were not cutting anymore, just steady enough to make sure they were still there.
“Family?” She asked.
The guy stayed quiet at that, with his eyebrows furrowing and the rest of his face completely neutral.
“...I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, but it’s a…complicated topic.”
“Got it.”
“You should improve your communication skills if you want to survive out there. I highly recommend Lisa for the task, she has a boy like you, who has difficulties in it and she’s been helping him.”
“Amber said it too! We’ll definitely go to Lisa after all of this!” Paimon exclaimed, moving her body in the air.
“Wise decision. So, this was quite rewarding, no?”
“We’ve seized another temple from Stormterror’s grasp!” The floating girl answered back again. She was obviously more comfortable with him after the little talk.
“I can take care of the rest here, you can take care of other things while I’m at it.”
“Okay.” That made him chuckle, probably for the lack of reaction from Lumine’s part.
“See you later, bye-bye!”
They got lost on their way to the third temple, they’ve been able to localize just because Lisa was outside of it, waiting for them. They made small talk –mostly Paimon– and went inside to finish this last task.
Their mini adventure inside allowed Lumine to observe Lisa’s element: Electro. It suited her perfectly, not only because of the color, but because of the graceful, magnetic elegance behind every movement she made. She even had a purple collar to complement her outfit.
“Your…” Lumine pointed at her neck. “It's pretty.”
“Well, thank you, cutie. Since I got the Vision, I put it inside a collar, like a gem, so it doesn’t get lost.”
“What is Vision?” Lumine asked while tilting her head to the side.
“You’re kidding…You’re seriously talking? Sorry, it’s used to draw Elemental Powers, like mine, Electro. But Kaeya, for example, has a Cryo one. Or Amber, a Pyro one. It’s like a magical lightning.”
“Vision… I get it.”
“Paimon forgot to mention it to you, Paimon is so so so sorry.”
“Don’t worry, Pai.”
“Where are you from exactly? Are you a hilichurl with a high iq? No, it would be impossible…” Then, Lisa started rambling. It didn’t last long since the dragon’s breath was already in their sight.
Paimon asked Lisa something and she started explaining, slowly, so Lumine could also get some parts. And she did: Stormterror’s real name is Dvalin, hatred made it become like this.
With that, the last temple was done. Between temples and conversations, the long and exhausting day turned into a peaceful, dark night. After all the hard work, their stomachs growled with an intense sound. They forgot to eat during the day, now it was time to fix that.
A simple, but delicious meal: chicken-mushroom skewers; and an excited Paimon talking about everything that happened during the day were enough to give this day a good closure.
Tomorrow will come, and she’s eager to find out what fate lies ahead for her.