Chapter Text
Lumine sighed heavily, rubbing at her temples in exasperation. It was a good thing she was on holiday and didn't have to go to work; she didn't know what she would've done with Tartaglia while she was at her job.
She watched Amber and Tartaglia exchange words, both of them much too energetic for how early it was in the morning. Noelle sat off to the side, munching cereal and smiling kindly at the two of them.
“- Oh! I forgot to ask you your name!” Amber said, slapping her forehead with a quiet 'duh'.
Lumine's eyes widened, immediately jumping into action. “O-oh, it's – it's - “
“Childe,” Tartaglia smoothly said over her, offering Amber a casual smile. Lumine's mouth closed with a click. She hadn't expected him to understand the gravity of the situation, and the mess that could've resulted from him saying his real name. He'd surprised her.
Amber kekeke-d in her palm mischievously. “So is Lumine supposed to dote on you, then?”
Lumine was glad Amber had turned around at the exact moment so she didn't see Lumine barely holding Tartaglia, sweet smile on his face, back from ripping her head off. Her arms trembled while restraining him, but even then she knew that if Tartaglia really wanted to, he'd have broken free as easy as one-two-three.
“Anyway, it's nice to meet you.” Amber offered out her hand, and when Tartaglia took it Lumine noticed she was applying just the slightest bit of pressure on her fingers. “Don't hurt Lumine, 'kay?”
Tartaglia gazed down at her friend through his eyelashes. “I won't.”
The atmosphere smoothed back into something light and cheery, yet Lumine stood rooted to her spot. Her eyebrows furrowed.
~~~
“Here,” Lumine said, offering Tartaglia a dark grey piece of fabric. “It belongs to my brother, but he's not here right now. It might be a bit tight on you though - “
And she was right. The man could barely fit his head through the hole of the shirt. He looked just the tiny bit ridiculous it had Lumine's lips quirking up at the corners. So far he was acting like a glorified dog. It threw her off.
“Come on,” she told him, swiping the keys off her drawer. “Let's find some clothes for you.”
Tartaglia raised an eyebrow at her, tilting his head (definitely a dog - ), “'Find'? Clothing takes more than one evening to be made, what do you mean - “
“Is this... a temple?” Tartaglia said in wonder, gazing wide-eyed around the mall. Lumine smiled under her breath. He had his moments when he spoke perfectly like a person from the 21st Century and the others when he simply seemed completely like a man out of time – which he was.
“Let's go there,” Lumine said, nudging her head in the direction of a random shop. She wasn't much of a shopper but she'd have to make an exception this one time.
A lot of money-counting, wondrous gasps, running after stray gods later they were finally out, Lumine panting heavily and carrying all the – many – bags. Tartaglia didn't seem winded for breath in the least.
Her eyes caught sight of a bookshop and she hesitated, before making for it with sure steps. Checking Tartaglia was still behind her – she didn't want to think what would happen were she to lose him from sight – she made for a particular section in the bookstore. Lumine placed the bags down and cracked open one of the books, holding her breath in anticipation.
She passed the pages until she settled on the one titled 'Ancient Greece'.
“ - according to Statius, it bordered Elysium, the final resting place of the virtuous. Ovid wrote that the river flowed through the cave of Hypnos, god of sleep, where its murmuring would induce drowsiness.
The shades of the dead were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life. In the Aeneid, Virgil (VI.703-751) writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be reincarnated.”
Lumine paused to rub at her chin thoughtfully. 'Drink the waters of Lethe in order to forget their earthly life'? Could that mean that if Tartaglia drank water from Lethe he'd be able to forget about this earthly life and return to his time, and thus godhood?
But still, the question remained... How was she supposed to find the river itself?
Her eyes caught sight of Tartaglia staring seriously at the many books stacked atop another. He seemed as if he was struggling to read the titles on the covers. His left finger twirled through the air subconsciously, an irritated movement. Behind it flowed a tiny stream of water, curling and twisting through the air.
All of a sudden an idea dawned on her. “Tar- Childe,” she called out, making said man turn towards her with an eyebrow raised. “What did you – What did you say you were the god of again?”
He visibly puffed out his chest, a brilliant grin overtaking his face as he boasted loudly, “The Five Oceans and Seven Seas!”
Lumine deflated. So, then... Not lakes and rivers too? Seems her hunch had been wrong.
Besides, if Tartaglia were to be a god, he would've been one a long, long time before what Greek Mythology describes as Lethe. Because there couldn't be both Tartaglia and Poseidon at the same time, could there?
Come to think of it, she eyed Tartaglia warily, what time period was he even from exactly? She'd have to look it up as soon as she could.
That night she woke up suddenly. Somebody was moving around her room, shutting the door softly behind them. “Tartaglia...?” she murmured, rubbing at her eyes tiredly.
She stumbled through the darkness, patting at the wall to keep herself from tripping over anything. Tartaglia was in the living room, crouching on the window sill, back arched in a tense position. He didn't turn towards her.
Lumine stood there, squinting to make out his form in the darkness. What was he doing...?
“Go back to sleep, mortal.” the voice sliced through the air, a bullet through a frozen atmosphere. Wind had begun to pick up again, and Lumine rubbed her arms at the sudden oceanic chill. Tartaglia jumped out the window, his shadow darting faster than Lumine's eyes could catch.
She ran towards the window, just in time to catch the god jumping on the roof of the next house, posture curled animalistically. A big, full moon shone from underneath the clouds.
Lumine didn't know what had gotten into him, but she couldn't let him wander off on his own; he definitely didn't know the way back. She grabbed her keys and was out the door, no coat, no nothing.
Once she reached the bottom of her flat and darted out the door she had the time to regret her decision. There wasn't anyone around, but somehow that made her feel even more terrified. There was this horrible feeling that she was being watched. She breathed in her palms, eyes darting around her frantically.
Step, step.
She rubbed her arms from the cold.
Step, step.
“C-Childe?” Lumine called out.
Step, step.
Her eyes fell down to her hand gripping her wrist, underneath which was the tiny, blue dot.
Step, step.
She paused slightly. He'd found his way to her before, hadn't he? Probably guided by the soulmate mark. Lumine hesitated – what if something had happened to him? He hadn't seemed to be in his waters earlier – not the time for puns.
And besides, he was a god, and even if that wasn't true, he certainly had some kind of power that would make attacking him difficult, right?
Nodding to herself one last time, she turned on her heel and made for the stairs. It was on the last step that the coldest of chills ran down her back. She didn't even have time to turn around before something pulled on her shirt, making her lose her balance and fall backwards. Her eyes widened, fingers catching on nothing.
This was it – she was going to die.
It felt as if things rolled down in slow-motion: there was a whoosh of air before the chill was removed from her back, the edge of her heel completely missed the step from underneath, her legs curled in on themselves at an awkward angle as the stair hit her head.
There wasn't even time to ponder on the pain, as flowers of blurry images bloomed across her vision, making it impossible to see anything. There was something red above her, and something warm was patting at her arms. Someone was groaning. She vaguely realized it was her.
“-umine! Lumine - !” the voice was frantic, and Lumine felt as if there was something really important she was missing.
But she was so tired. She'd found her soulmate but didn't have time to get to know him at all. And he was a statue on top of that, how funny. She just wanted to sleep now.
Just let her sleep.