Chapter Text
"It's quiet...Too quiet. Surely someone's gotta be guarding something as important as the Exuvia," Paimon remarked.
"This isn't right...something feels off," Lumine murmured as she and Paimon stepped inside the Golden House.
The guards had been knocked out, their bodies lying on the ground with no visual signs of blood thankfully. Her footsteps echoed in the empty chamber as Lumine descended the stairs. Opposite from where she stood was the Exuvia, the body of the Geo Archon, which was held in suspended animation. Giving Paimon a look, they rushed over to check the body.
"You've already fulfilled your task as guides, so why do you still linger here? Haven't you already seen enough trouble for today?" A familiar voice questioned from behind.
"Who's there?!" Paimon demanded, both of them spinning around.
The silhouette of Childe approached them calmly, as if he had been expecting their arrival to the Golden House. "If you were Fatui, I imagine that you would be entitled to a generous reward from the Tsaritsa herself. But now, you're nothing but dross and you're in my way."
Lumine narrowed her eyes slightly as she became defensive.
"Looks like I was just in time then," she replied back.
"I have to give it to you though. If it weren't for that lovely little Rite of Parting ceremony you put together, it would have taken me a whole lot longer to get the information I needed. Stopping the Mora mints, hiding the Exuvia away..." Childe chuckled and continued, "the Qixing are really pulling out all the stops this time."
"So you've been planning to take the Gnosis from inside the Exuvia all along?!" Paimon accused.
Lumine remained silent beside her companion.
"As one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers, it's my duty to see the will of the Tsaritsa fulfilled. She will get that which she desires."
"I won't allow you to get near the Exuvia," Lumine declared calmly.
Childe seemed amused by her answer but his facial expression morphed into a more serious one.
"I'm not asking for your blessing, and there's nothing you can do to stop me anyway. The time for discussion and diplomacy has already passed. If it were upt to me, I would have skipped that stage to begin with...but I'm willing to do as the Tsaritsa deems fit. Either way we now come to my favorite part...a simple pleasure, and one I am oh-so-delighted to be sharing with you."
Lumine had a feeling she knew what was coming next.
"The battle," Childe finished.
"Battle? So you're the type that goes looking for trouble, huh?"
Leave it to Paimon to never stop talking at crucial moments like this.
The Harbinger laughed at Paimon's comment.
"You can say that. When Signora offended the deities outside the Cathedral in Mondstadt, she swiftly left the scene once her mission was accomplished. Instead of confronting you directly, she chose to rely on snow and ice to make her escape. She wouldn't want the Knights to come running towards the sound of battle now, would she? As for me, the greatest pleasure of being a Harbinger lies in crossing blades with strong opponents."
"We won't let what happened in Mondstadt ever happen again!" Paimon argued.
"Oh? So you intend to fight me? Good. I won't kill you, Traveler. I'll just play along, to feel the thrill of battle!"
At this the Harbinger summoned a bow and began firing at Lumine. Dodging the projectiles while calling her sword, Lumine dashed closer to Childe and managed to land a blow to his side. Childe retaliated by suddenly switching his bow to hydro daggers and slashed at her. Barely managing to block, she threw out her palm and summoned a whirlwind to counter his attacks.
"Not bad," Childe said as he stepped backwards.
The ground below him suddenly began glowing blue, and Lumine rolled backwards after sensing something was amiss. From the floor of the Golden House erupted a giant narwhale made of water, which let out a call before splashing back down into the ground.
Charging forward again, Lumine clashed blades with the Harbinger and managed to injure him yet again.
"No wonder Signora was wary of you," Childe suddenly said.
A small gasp escaped her lips as Lumine watched Childe change forms. His outfit took on a darker hue and the mask that hung over the side of his head now covered his face. In place of his hydro daggers was a single electro spear, and his speed was greatly increased as well.
"Brace yourself, this is about to get tough," he warned.
Slashing out with the polearm, Childe caught Lumine across the chest and sent her flying backwards.
"Show me what you can do against the might of a Harbinger!"
Steeling herself after realizing just wrong she had been, thinking she could take on Childe alone, Lumine hardened her resolve and threw herself at the Harbinger. His spear clashed against her sword as the two danced around the floor of the Golden House.
"Don't do this! Please!" she begged, her hands pressing down harshly on the hilt of her sword as it was locked with Childe's spear.
"I am a Harbinger. I must fulfill the wishes of my Tsaritsa."
He knocked her backwards with a upward slash of his spear, pushing her away from him as he approached her. Lumine winced and gripped her upper left arm, feeling blood soak through her glove.
"Your swordsmanship is impressive, but that's as far as you'll get."
Childe charged forward with his spear held outward and Lumine forced herself onto her feet before throwing her right hand to block his attack with a small anemo whirlwind. When her leg began to slip, she drew it backwards in a half arch and geo crystals erupted from the ground, creating an explosion that sent her flying upward. However she quickly righted herself and stood up as the smoke faded, only to find Childe was no longer standing there.
The Harbinger had used the chance to get close to the Exuvia.
"To think you had a card like that hidden up your sleeve," Childe commented, as if applauding her.
"You were using us to get close to the Exuvia!" Paimon shouted angrily.
"Oh, quiet down. Stop acting like some wide-eyed recruit. This should have been expected," Childe's hand glowed purple as he suddenly plunged it into the body of Rex Lapis. "Well then, I'll be taking the Morax's Gnosis now!"
"No!" Lumine yelled.
When Childe withdrew his hand and opened it, he realized it was empty.
"Huh? Well...this is unexpected. You beat me to it, didn't you?" He accused as purple lightning gathered around his body.
Lumine barely managed to doge out of the way as Childe moved faster than her eyes could follow.
Levitating off the ground as he changed forms yet again, Lumine witnessed the Harbinger become more of a monster now as armor enveloped his body and his mask morphed into something resembling a one-eyed cyclops.
"Not bad," Childe said in a unearthly voice as his spear flew back to his hand. "But this is going to cost you!"
Slamming his spear into the ground and shattering the entire area, Lumine plunged into the floor below and landed on her stomach.
"Ahh!"
Somehow she managed to get up just as Childe hovered down from above. Grabbing her sword again, Lumine ran towards the Harbinger and clashed with him. In his new form, Childe was easily able to block her blow before flicking her aside. Pushing herself through the pain, Lumine summoned a whirlwind and sent it flying towards the Harbinger.
"Give me the Gnosis. Don't make me take it from you."
"We didn't take it!" Paimon insisted from beside the Traveler.
Gritting her teeth, Lumine dodged another blow and, betting everything she had on this blow, got through Childe's defenses and plunged the sword into his chest. Childe coughed up blood and summoned lightning to strike all around but Lumine held on. Her hands glowed with the power of Anemo, causing a reaction which blew both of them apart.
"Traveler, get up!" Paimon encouraged.
Pushing a piece of rubble off her, Lumine saw Childe lying motionless on the ground and rushed over to him.
"Childe?"
The center of his chest was slowly seeping blood as he coughed. It seemed the attack undid his transformation as he cracked his eyes open to look at her with a bloody smile.
"You really did it this time...didn't you?" He asked in a hoarse voice.
Tears began streaming down Lumine's face as she grabbed his hand in hers.
"Why are...you crying? I'm a Fatui...we were enemies...the moment we met..."
"No Childe...I see you as a friend. Please, don't die."
Wiping the tears away from her face, Childe coughed several times in succession. Lumine pressed her hands against his wound in a vain attempt to staunch the bleeding. The Harbinger gently caressed her cheek with a bloody hand.
"A smile suits you more...ojou-sama," Childe said.
Then his hand fell limply against his side.
"Childe! No!" Lumine screamed in anguish.