Chapter Text
The sea breeze on the boat sailing towards Liyue Harbor always managed to put Childe's mind to ease. He was a bit tired and agitated over searching the whole of Teyvat for Scaramouche, but since he received an order to go to Liyue Harbor and handle some minor issues in the Northland Bank he felt relieved. He has such fond memories of Liyue, true that he once tried to drown it but all and all, it was a nice city with lots to explore, the food always tasted great there! (Except the part where he needed to eat with chopsticks...). But by far, the best thing about Liyue was that this was the place where he has met Lumine.
While it is true that he used her to get to the Gnosis and nearly ended up fighting her to death, he actually really liked her. At first as a comrade but now he was sure there was more to it than that. The way she helped him with his little brother Teaucer, The way they both fought side by side in the Onmyoudou Labyrinth alongside the girl Xinyan, an interesting encounter that he ended with a cryptic statement in the end...
You're like the stars in the night sky, comrade. You never cease to surprise me...
He had meant for that statement to be an ambiguous confession, something that'll keep her guessing while also giving himself some relieve that he finally confessed to the girl he so obvoiusly like. (If you can even call it a confession. Childe knows he isn't even fooling himself...).
Well no matter, in just few hours the ship will land in the harbor of Liyue, he'll finish the job as quick as possible and maybe, just maybe, get to meet Lumine if she's in town, maybe dispatch some recruits to find her whereabouts.
Childe smiles as he remembers her star-like aura and her fearsome expression in battle, he can't wait to see her again...
The first thing Childe notices upon landing in Liyue is that somehow, the Jade Chamber is floating again? Didn't Ningguang destroy it as a last resort to fend off Osial?
"Ningguang recently rebuilt the Chamber sir." A recruit informed him of the past events while they were making their way to The Northland Bank, "She announced that she's going to rebuild it and offered a reward for those who help her aquire certain materials for the project. In the end, the winners were Captain Beidou of The Crux fleet, the famous opera singer Yunjin, and finally the traveler Lumine and her floating companion alongside a mysterious woman that we don't have much information on in the moment."
Lumine?! Ha! Knew you'll have a hand in all of this, as usual!
Childe briefly wondered who's that mysterious woman that helped her, but he shrugged it off as one of her many friends who simply were there to help.
Childe asked the important question: "Is the traveler in Liyue harbor currently?"
"Yes," His subordinate replied, and Childe's heart was filled with joy. "As far as we know, she has businesses with the adventurer's guild and some members of the Qixing, we suspect she'll stay for a while for the Lantern Rite too."
Perfect. He grinned. He ought to finish this job at the bank as soon as possible and find her, he can't wait to have another spar with her, maybe go fishing? treat her to meals at either Liuli Pavilion or Xinyue Kiosk? Better yet if Xiangling is around hit Wanmin Resturant instead? The possibilities were endless, and he sighed in content knowing he'll soon get to finally reunite with her again...
Childe has never worked this fast and effecient in his entire life. In a matter of few hours, he handed the paperworks to Ekatarina and vanished completley like fog on a sunny day.
Childe roamed the streets of Liyue looking for the traveler, he should've asked his subordinates to look for her instead, but he kinda forgot in his rush to finish the job...
No biggies, searching is all part of the fun! Plus he kind of gotten a good idea of where she usually go to from the days he followed her to gather informations on her during her preparations for the rite of parting.
Still Liyue is quite big, she could be anywhere. Should he go and ask Mr. Zhongli?
Ah... That would be a bad idea at the moment...
As much as he wanted to settle scores with Zhongli following his glorious fiasco, now wasn't the time to do so. Lumine was more important than that.
The recruit from earlier mentioned she has some business to take care of with the Qixing, should he ask them-
No no no no...Stupid Ajax, how did you even came up with such a moronic idea?!
As if any member of the Qixing would so much as to glance at him from the corner of their eyes after all he has done. Childe immediately scrapped the idea as well as giving himself a mental smack.
"This seems hopeless...", he thought as he looked at the skies, "Just where are you, my star...?"
The vast blue sky seemed beautiful but dull, Lumine somehow managed to make everything more brightful and beautiful. Even mow as he looks over to the dull sky, he swears he can see her gliding across it, looking like an actual shooting star, illuminating everything around her as she descends to the grounds, just like she's doing now-
Wait a minute... WAIT JUST A MINUTE! Is that Lumine gliding right now above him?!
She is! He was so engrossed in his musings he failed to see that she was, quite literally, above his head! Thank the Tsaritsa he now knows where she is. She must've glided from the Jade Chamber and is headed to the small hill near the city.
Childe has never ran faster his entire life, it was like trying to catch a shooting star in the daytime and perhaps it really is. He followed her path to her eventual landing spot.
Wait for me, my star...
Childe couldn't wait.
There she is, the girl who's the object of his interest, standing near the hill by the sea as she looks at her map, obviously thinking about something.
The gust of wind from the sea made her golden hair and beautiful dress dance with it, Childe always knew she was pretty, but now she looks somehow even prettier.
"Hey there, comrade." He greets as he gets closer and closer, "Long time no see. Have you missed me?"
Lumine turns her head fast at the voice that caught her by surprise, and as soon as she sees Childe her face twists into a shocked expression, but Childe could tell she wasn't particulary happy to see him...
"Childe?! What in Teyvat are you doing here?!"
"Ouch, comrade..." He feighned being hurt, "We haven't seen each other in months after Inazuma and this is how you greet me? I'm hurt, Lumine, I'm really hurt..."
He briefly wonders whether or not she remembers what he said when they parted ways in Inazuma. Did she mused over it? Did she ever wondered what he meant by it? Did she caught the hint?
Was she thinking about him all this time the same way he was thinking about her?
Childe could see she had an annoyed expression on her face, which honestly hurts a little bit. He knows their relationship is a bit rocky but he was hoping it was somehow mended over time with how many adventures they both had together up until now.
Clearly that wasn't the case for her, and he had to fix it...
"Now now girlie, no need to give me that annoyed gaze. Look, I was planning for some sparring with you after such a long time but seeing you like this? A meal might actually be the best course of action to take. What do you say? My treat of course! Pick whatever place you want and order what you want!"
Lumine looked a bit hesitant, looks like food bribery still works with her.
"I'm thankful for your...uh, generous offer Childe, but I have some commissions to complete before the sun goes down so-"
"Perfect!" He immediately interrupted her, "What's even better is going on an adventure with you,even if it's to complete some commissions! I'll help you out with it. With me by your side we'll finish in maybe less than an hour!"
She sighed heavily, "Again, I'm grateful Childe, but as it happens, someone else is helping me with commissions today, so I already have all the help I need."
What.
Someone else who's helping her? Who the hell-!
Now Childe was the one who's annoyed. Just who is that person? And does Lumine trusts them to the point of discarding his offer to help? Whoever they are, surely they're not better than him in any way.
Childe spoke again to Lumine, clearly trying not to be upset, or for what is worth, jealous of that mysterious friend of his comrade...
"Hey now, comrade, you know how strong I am. Are you really about to replace me with some random person? No matter who the are, I'm sure I'm 100 times, no, 1000 times better than the-"
Childe couldn't finish that sentence, for at that moment, he felt something rapidly approaching him.
He remembers this feeling from back when he was a reckless 14 years old boy in the wilderness of Snezhnaya, when he got lost and fell into the abyss, forced to use eveything in his powers to survive.
Right now he feels an intense aura coming his way, an aura he's familiar with, an aura that renders even him, the 11th harbinger of the fatui, almost frozen from fear.
An intense murder aura, coming his way to end him then and there...
Childe barely dodges the attack that was coming in his direction. Said attack created a cloud of dust upon impact . For a short second he thought how if he was even falling a bit behind, or was late in identifying the aura coming to him, he could've died...
Just who, or what, in the world was that?!
As the cloud of dust parts, Childe took a good look at his aggressor, and it was not what he expected at all...
A tall woman, almost as tall as he is, standing right before him. She wielded an impressive looking spear, ready to jab at the nearest opponent without hesitation. Her hair was a white as snow with black tips at the end of it. Her outfit was unusual, covered with red robes, even in her hair and ears. But what set her differently is her face. A solemn expression, at first seemingly empty of all emotions and stiff, but one look at her eyes proves otherwise. Her multi-colored eyes were locked onto him like a hawk to its prey, ready to strike wuithout mercy. This woman, whoever she was, was reeking of a strong lust for blood, she was reeking of the urge to kill, of chaos and calamity.
She looked like she was ready to kill him, to engage with him to a battle until one of them drops dead, an offer Childe would've happily took, had not this wench that came out of nowhere ruined his time with Lumine just now.
At the moment, Childe was furious.
"Who the hell are you?" The mysterious woman spoke, voice laced with distain and the urge to kill, "And why the hell are you bothering Lumine?"
Did she just called Lumine by her name? Childe quickly figured out she must be friends with Lumine, but how in the world does Lumine knows someone like her?!
The woman took a step forth, " I won't ask again...If you don't-"
"Shenhe wait!"
Lumine stepped right in front of this crazy woman, seemingly trying to calm her down.
"Easy there, Shenhe. He's..." Lumine looked back at Childe, he couldn't know what was she's thinking. She just sighed and said "He's someone I know."
Childe was a bit irate, "Just 'someone you know'?. Come now, comrade, don't be shy to tell the world about our real relationship."
He felt a strong shiver on his spine, he saw the woman known as Shenhe staring intensly at him. She really looked like she was about to kill him instantly.
"Lumine, I saw you were getting annoyed by this man from afar. You looked uncomfortable. Shall I dispose of him?"
Childe quickly got up, grinning like a madman. Saying with a low, challanging voice, "You think you can take me on? I'd love to see you try..."
"ENOUGH!!!"
A loud shout snapped the both of them back to reality as they stared at the blonde who was now scolding them.
"No fighting, do you both hear me?!" She turned to Childe, "Childe! No provoking others with your silly and unnecessary comments, do you hear me?!"
Childe rubbed his neck, "...yeah yeah, sorry comrade..."
"And Shenhe!" She now turned to the tall woman, "I appreciate your concern over me but I'm really fine! There's no need for you to be hostile towards everyone. Try to handle things more diligently next time, got it?"
Shenhe lowered her head and eased the pressure on her spear, "...Yes, I got it. I'm so sorry Lumine..."
She claps her hands in satisfaction, "Okay good! Now Childe, as I was saying before, I need to go and finish my commissions before dusk, and Shenhe will accompany me. I appreciate your offer from before, maybe we can go eat next time."
Childe was shocked to say the least, is she turning him down like this?!
Lumine grabs Shenhe's arm gently and smiles to her, "Come now Shenhe, let's go finish up those commissions!"
At that moment, Childe saw something that made his blood both freeze and boil at the same time...
This wench named Shenhe, who almost killed him no questions asked, who was just reeking of murder all around her, gaze filled with cruelty and blood lust, but as soon as Lumine spoke to her, no, as soon as she looked at her, her face immediately relaxed, and a smile blastered all over it. Her harsh gaze became soft as she faced the blonde, and a her cheeks had a deep blush to them. The harsh voice that just threatened him turned gentle as she replied to the girl:
"As you wish, Lumine..."
Childe recognize that expression more than anybody, because that's the expression he sometimes finds himself making whenever he talks to Lumine...
And now SHE is making it, the exact same expression.
This could only mean one thing and one thing only...That this woman is also-
"Hold a minute, comrade." Childe approached them both, completley ignoring the murderous gaze Shenhe was giving him.
"I'm more than capable to assest you in your commissions and you know that, why don't you take me with you instead?"
He extended his hand in some sort of a polite gesture, but not before Shenhe stood between him and Lumine.
"You wanna die this badly?" She gave him a killing look.
Childe barked a harsh laugh, "You may have just nearly killed me but that was only because I let my guard down. I assure that in a real fight, you have no chance against me..."
"Hey! You two! Didn't I just say no fighting?!" Lumine got between them, trying to defuse an intense situation.
"I did not plan to fight him, but he's making it very difficult to contain my anger..." Shenhe said in a firm voice dripping with malice.
Lumine looked at Childe, "Seriously Childe, didn't I just tell you I'll do my commissions with her? You just saw how strong she is, I assure you she and I will be fine."
"So that's the reason you'll take her instead of me? You know I'm also strong."
Lumine couldn't help but sigh, "Firstly Childe, I promised her we'll go do commissions together. Secondly, it has nothing to do with her strength, she's also my friend which is why I'm taking her."
"Well what about me?" He looked at her with a sad expression that made Lumine froze for a second, "Aren't we friends, comrade?"
"I-I..." She looked hesitant.
It's true that he did do many things that were wrong to her, and it's true he belongs to the organization that's been like a thorn on her side since she started her journey, and it's true that he's the one who proclaimmed them as friends without asking her about what she feels, but he was hoping that after the incident with his brother and in Inazuma, that she'll somehow grow to accept him. That she'll see him more than just a harbinger. Clearly he needed to work on their relationship, and Childe was more than willing to fix whatever broken bridges between him and her.
But not before he gets rid of this annoying witch who won't leave Lumine alone.
"Hey you! Leave her alone, you're making her uncomfortable." Shenhe spoke to him firmly, a tone Childe didn't appreciate.
"No, no, Shenhe. It's okay..." Lumine calmed her again.
She looked between the two, both had their eyes locked on each other, both were ready to tear each other limb to limb, and she somehow caught herself in the middle of all this...
She knew there was no way Childe would leave her alone even if she told him off and quite honestly she felt a bit of guilt from his expression earlier.
There was one way to solve this...
She loudly cleared her throat, "Alright, listen you two, I have a solution to this: how about you both accompany me to do my commissions?"
Both pairs of eyes turned to her shocked, and they both said together, "What?"
"Listen, knowing Childe he'll probably follow me regardless, plus he's right, he is pretty strong and can help me with my commissions with ease. However I did also promised Shenhe I'll do my commissions with her, and Shenhe is also very strong, as I'm sure you've just witnessed, Childe.
But since you both insist on going with me, the best solution is for the three of us to tag in together."
They both just stared at her, clearly not fully convinced.
Lumine continued, "You both are very strong, with you both at my side this will be the fastest set of commissions I've ever finished in a long while. Plus if we finished early..."
She looked at Childe, "...I'll get to go on the resturant of my choice with Childe and...", then she turned to Shenhe, "...Get to go for a walk with Shenhe near the fields of Qingce Village...", now she looks at them both, smiling, "...Wouldn't that be the best outcome for everyone?"
Ah, it's that soft smile again...Childe and Shenhe couldn't help but blush slightly upon seeing Lumine smile at them, and while they had their reservations about the other taking Lumine's time, they were looking forward to spending time with her on their own.
Well, doesn't matter, the faster I can help her clear her commissions, the faster I can spend some time with her, and hopefully remove that pest from her once and for all...
It's quite hilarious how they were both thinking of the same thing...
They both reluctantly agreed to Lumine's offer to compremise, but still showing signs of distain to one another.
"But wait!" Lumine said firmly, "I have but one rule: No fighting between the two of you, you got me? I see one disbute, and I'll go do my commissions myself, you hear me?"
Again, they both agreed despite everything.
"Okay, that's good! Come now you two, follow me."
Lumine walked to the direction of her first commission, with a fighting maniac who happens to be a harbinger for the fatui on her left, and an adeptus disciple with homiciadal tendencies on her right.
She had to be blind and stupid not to notice the intense atmosphere both shared, and the urge to fight to death that's been kept at bay with her commands.
Unfortunately for Lumine, in this specific situation, she was neither blind nor stupid, and the air between the two made it difficult to even breath...
It's okay! We'll just finish up few commissions together. Despite their natures they both at least listen to me, I'll just have to keep them from slitting each other's throats until this is all over and I get to calm them later.
I've handled many difficult situations in my adventures thus far, surely I can handle this. What could possibly go wrong?