Chapter Text
She would kill him.
Lumine was going to kill that ginger bastard and have some choice words with him before she did it.
Jueyeon Karst was not an easy climb and the adepti were even less easy to speak with. When Lumine and Paimon had finally arrived at the mountaintop and were about to speak with one of the adepti, guards had arrived for them.
The guards screamed of her guilt and Lumine had to hold back from laughing at how absurd it was. Are they not in the lands of the adepti? Did they even have permission as she did?
Lumine then had to fight them just so she could talk to this Moon Carver fellow. Really what kind of situation? She had to fight to prove her innocence? That just made her all the more suspicious. Aether let us reunite soon, she thought, exhausted from it all. She just wanted her brother back and she kept getting pulled into other’s troubles.
Thanking the archons, the battle with the guards did not take that long. Either her powers were recovering quicker than she thought or the Millelith really ought to train more. It felt kind of unfair to beat them so easily, but they were after her.
When Lumine was finally able to speak to Moon Carver, they did not bother to hold back with their outrage and disdain. She could have sworn the mountain had shaken with the stomping of hooves and the roar the adepti bellowed out. Poor Paimon lost all color to her face and stuck to Lumine as a scared child would to their mother.
Moon Carver continued to rant and rave about the inadequacies of the Qixing— Lumine had only been here a few days so who was she to judge— and the supposed assassination of Rex Lapis. They could not find any reasoning behind the Qixing's actions and seemed to get even more upset when they heard. unjust accusations were placed amongst the attendees. How would the people of Liyue even dare to kill their archon? How even the thought of a mortal killing an archon was laughable.
Moon Carver was convinced there was something amiss, something that was being shrouded from the public eye. Lumine could agree with them there.
Though, Moon Carver appeared to be of the temperamental sorts so even if she shared opinions it seemed wisest to be left unsaid. So, Lumine kept quiet under the fear of angering the adepti anymore. Better to let them let it all out then become the center of their sole focus. Lumine would like to avoid being under the gaze of an adepti, call it a gut feeling but she did not feel at ease about it.
A few minutes passed and Paimon gave her hand a tight squeeze, a silent thank you for the comfort provided. She no longer appeared to be as frightened as she had been prior.
It did throw Lumine for a loop though when Moon Carver gave her a quest.
"Go. Take your Sigil of Permission, carry with you a message," they instructed.
"Is there someone I should be looking for?"
Moon Carver nodded regally, "Mountain Shaper and Cloud Retainer."
Oh okay? More adepti then?
"Only fate will decide if you shall find them – only fate." Moon Carver murmured wistfully.
I wasn't supposed to hear that….
Moon Carver turned around beginning to head back whenever it was they came from and let out their final words for Lumine and Paimon. "There exists a Conqueror of Demons, a Guardian Yaksha. Go to Wangshu Inn. There you shall seek him."
~
Cloud Retainer’s home was actually quite pretty. If anything, the beauty it held was filled with longing and bittersweet memories. Paimon seemed confused when Lumine hummed a sweet song she recalled hearing from her mother. Lumine told Paimon it was just something she remembered and felt right to do. Her mother never did say what the song meant to her, but Lumine and Aether knew that it was a song she adored yet brought her heartache from the look in her eyes.
It did not take long before the two stumbled across a table.
Cloud Retainer. Guizhong. Rex.
Likely a place for friends to meet up and dine. Perhaps adepti were not as solitary in the past as they were now?
Paimon flew around the table a few times while Lumine inspected the dinnerware that was set up. The metal had rusted, and the plates had small cracks, as if it were weathered away by nature itself.
Lumine found herself thinking of Aether once more, she missed him so much. What she wouldn't do to share a meal with him again. To take turns cooking a meal or suggesting a place to eat. To steal a bite off his plate. To watch his face scrunch up as he tried something that he did not like. Aether always was such a fussy eater.
Paimon tapped Lumine on her shoulder, her face bright. “Paimon doesn’t really know how you gather an adepti’s attention but what if we cooked something for them? Maybe like an offering?”
Lumine smiled gently. “Oh Paimon, that’s brilliant. That's also very sweet of you.”
“Oh! Um- But... What do adepti even eat, anyway? Paimon has no idea…”
Well, that was a good question. Time to scope out the area.
Luckily for them, a chef had come not long before them and had shared Paimon’s sentiments of leaving an offering for the adepti. Lumine had found traces of meals being cooked and miraculously even the recipes that were used. It was a bit of a hassle to cook up in the mountains though.
After the meals were placed upon the table Lumine suggested to Paimon they wait for a little. If they had no response by the time the sun started to set, they would head back for the day and try the next adepti. Lumine was not sure if Adepti abided by time as everyone else did.
They sat by the pond's edge and spoke to one another. Lumine shared the stories of her travels with Aether and the countless worlds they had seen together. Paimon was fascinated by Lumine’s stories and always asked to hear more. In the very beginning, Lumine did not trust Paimon and was always reluctant to speak about her life prior to Teyvat, but she did not mind indulging Paimon’s curiosity now.
Perhaps it was an hour or two that passed before Cloud Retainer presented themselves. Though they like Moon Carver did not make it easy. Only after entering their abode and navigating through it could Lumine speak to the adepti.
Lumine was quite impressed with all the mechanisms and asked Cloud Retainer about them. The adepti seemed caught off guard by the good-natured question and explained fondly about their great invention. They began to ramble for a little until they noticed and fluffed their feathers before asking what brought them there.
Lumine straight to the point explained what happened in Liyue Harbor.
Cloud Retainer stood stock still. “Assassinated!? How!? Who dares to do such a thing?”
For taking the form of a bird, Cloud Retainer looked quite terrifying.
“The notion is so preposterous as to be unbelievable... one shall have to verify the truth of the matter independently…” Their voice had hardened, no longer holding the stern warmth it held when Lumine praised their inventions.
It was silent for a moment before Cloud Retainer spoke once more, cold fury lacing their voice. “Perhaps one shall squash Liyue first, then convene with the other adepti–”
“Excuse me!?” Lumine cried out in horror.
Paimon looked just as off-put as Lumine did. “Wait, what!? Did you just say ‘squash Liyue Harbor’? Are you seriously going to wipe out the whole city!?”
Cloud Retainer stared them down. “Only a response of sufficient magnitude can negate the possibility of further incidents. They dared to kill Rex Lapis? Retribution will be served.”
“I understand where you are coming from, but the adepti are sworn to protect the city…”
The adepti acknowledged Lumine’s words and nodded at her. “You are well informed. We adepti have protected Liyue Harbor under the leadership of Rex Lapis for 37 centuries. But in the face of this coup by nefarious actors... exceptional measures must be taken.”
Lumine was panicking. How was she supposed to dissuade the adepti when she was not even from their world? Her search for her brother should have never been extended to preventing a mass genocide from furious immortals. Had she ignored Childe’s instructions she would have never been responsible for the potential deaths of a whole nation.
How was she going to spin a tale this time? Think Lumine, think! Speak nonsense if you must! It was your cursed tongue that wrought upon this situation.
“Aren't you supposed to protect the people there?” she blurted out.
Cloud retainer let out a cold laugh. “It is as you say, they are under our protection. However, if Rex Lapis has indeed been murdered, then Liyue is in great peril. To delay in quashing the threat is to invite further disaster.”
That made no sense to Lumine, but she did not bother asking for clarification. It seemed even here in Teyvat immortals were callous and obstinate. Believing they knew what was best, no matter the circumstance.
“It is precisely because one does not wish to see further suffering that exceptional measures are deemed necessary at this time,” disclosed Cloud Retainer. They did not appear to be bothered at the suggestion of wiping away the existence of a land they had created from the ground up. What mercy they saw in that potential act, Lumine could not find.
Paimon grabbed Lumine’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Lumine you have to think of something! She wants to squash Liyue flat, and it doesn't seem like she's bluffing!” she whispered into Lumine’s ear.
Lumine turned towards Cloud Retainer and discreetly pushed Paimon behind her. If this were to get ugly, she would hope Paimon would be spared from whatever wrath the adepti expressed.
“Cloud Retainer, when you accepted our offering, that made this a contract,” she said full of false bravado, ignoring how her hands were shaking and how she could feel her heart in her throat.
Paimon interjected, popping up from behind Lumine. “We made all that delicious food and gave every last bit of it to you!” Paimon’s voice got quieter and she spoke more hesitantly. “We were hoping you might help Liyue out... not wipe Liyue out.”
Cloud Retainer cocked their head to the side and made their way closer to them both.
“Contract…” they muttered. “A cruel irony that you should appeal to the notion after the merciless murder of the God of Contracts himself. You have some nerve to speak as you do. Though you do not seem to be human nor an adepti. You are not an archon either. How do you speak like the world would bend to your will?”
Cloud Retainer was nearly upon Lumine now. “Just what are you? Had I not known better I would say you reek of the Abyss. But your heart bleeds for others and the Abyss would never permit that.”
Lumine knew she was not human but since she woke, she had lost some of her memories. To make matters worse she could not tell just what memories she was missing.
She cleared her throat and tried to place some space between her and the adepti.
Cloud Retainer snapped out of whatever it was they were thinking. “Forget my ramblings and be grateful you are still breathing. Since you come here in the name of contracts, far be it from one to abandon one's own contractual obligations.”
Lumine felt calm. Too calm. She needed to leave as soon as she could. Cloud Retainer’s words were just senseless to her right now.
“... bearing a Sigil of Permission... power has long since worn off... cannot be taken as proof of your trustworthiness.”
Lumine somehow managed to key back in.
“One must investigate the claims that you make independently. This, no doubt, is Moon Carver's very reason for summoning us. Your audience with the adeptus before you is now concluded. Leave at once and disturb me no further.”
Lumine nodded stiffly towards Cloud Retainer and made her way down the mountain. Her body felt frozen. She was calm— no, she was numb— but she felt as if she were floating instead. Is this what Paimon felt when she floated? Maybe she was right to say she was exhausted.
She gazed towards the sky. It was pretty, not overly cloudy and the sun shone brightly.
A root snagged her foot.
Lumine fell.
Paimon screamed.