Chapter Text
It was a sin how slowly time moved in Mondstadt Valley.
“I hope you are aware that the community center is filled with magical forest spirits.”
It was also a sin how Childe’s only friend in Mondstadt Valley was losing his mind. The elderly and their alzheimers, what a shame. Yet, he didn’t expect Zhongli to be so touched in the head this early in the morning.
“Is that the town’s new excuse for why Fatui Corp shouldn’t buy the community center?” He sent him a smile as he leaned back on the bench, crossing one leg over his knee and spreading his arms out, “Because it’s a really bad one.”
The last excuse was ‘it’s haunted’, the one before that was ‘it’s cursed’, and the original excuse before that was ‘we’ll use it someday, leave us alone’.
None of those were true.
Yet, Zhongli insisted upon his constant defense of the run-down town and it’s overgrown forestry, “You’re just young. You will understand one day the importance of this land.”
Childe cast him a look, “We’re the same age.”
“And you are foolish,” Zhongli spoke over the rim of his tea cup, steam curling into tendrils over his closed eyes, “I’m telling the truth. The community center is filled with magical forest spirits who protect it’s walls and memories.”
That community center, the one they were staring at in this very moment. The one that looked a hair's breadth away from collapsion. Childe tapped his foot absently and watched the broken windows for any sign of movement inside. There were no ghosts, no spirits, and nothing magical about the rotting wooden floors.
As eerie as the abandoned building was, Childe could not bring himself to believe Zhongli’s assertion. This was all coming from the archaeological professor who thought moving to the tiniest town in Teyvat would advance his career.
It did not.
He didn’t have much room to speak, though, Childe’s own career was advancing at the speed of a snail. He was aware that his colleagues sent him to Mondstadt Valley for the sake of keeping him very far away from themselves. It wasn’t the ostracization that bothered him, but the nature and location of his assignment.
His current mission: watch the community center, convince one more person to sign up for a Fatui Mart membership, and warm up these country bumpkin’s hearts to the lovely world of corporate hell.
It was the most boring job he’d had yet. But the fishing in the Valley was nice, that was a plus. The only one, but a plus nevertheless.
“I can’t wait until this job is over…” Childe murmured to himself, “nothing exciting happens here.”
Zhongli frowned, “It’s called living in peace.”
Childe never cared much for peace. Most other villagers treasured the calm of the mountains, the cool breezes and clear night sky. To them, Mondstadt Valley was a haven of content and simple lifestyles.
But they didn’t even have a fighting ring. That earned an immediate negative review from Childe.
“Well, perhaps the new farmer will be the one to sign up for a membership,” he mused, “then I’ll be able to leave.”
Zhongli couldn’t possibly understand why someone would leave this place. He dug up antique chicken statues from the beach nearly every day. It was rife with history and magic, and possibly the most interesting spot in all of Teyvat. His friend’s skepticism continued to grate at his long-lived patience, “Have you met her yet? The new farmer?”
He frowned, “No. Nobody has.”
“Ah, so she’s a recluse…”
“Xiangling said that Amber told her that she’s busy clearing out that abandoned property.”
He could only smile into his tea cup, “I thought you had a distaste for the town’s gossip.”
“I do,” a nonchalant shrug, “but it also has its uses. I hear she’s from the city originally, she must appreciate the conveniences of a corporate superstore. Once she signs up for a membership, we’ll have enough support to tear down the community center and make it into another store.” Then, he could go home, and forget about the Valley entirely.
Zhongli rolled his eyes as if he’d heard this speech hundreds of times - he had. “I promise you, there are magical forest spirits living within its walls. This entire Valley is a place of great history and spirituality, building yet another superstore would only ruin the last beacon of mysticism in Teyvat.”
A beat of silence. A cold morning breeze that ruffled Childe’s hair. A soft sigh as Zhongli finished his lecture, returning to sipping on his tea in annoyance.
The last beacon of mysticism in Teyvat?
“Have you been smoking weed?”
Zhongli blinked innocently, “Why would I smoke a weed? That’s an odd question.”
So, he was not on weed, he was simply weird. But that was already a known fact. Zhongli’s research papers about the history of Mondstadt Valley had never been accepted into any proper publication due to the absolute eccentricity of it all. This was the man who wrote an entire novel on the habits of the shadow people who, apparently, lived in the sewers, and had a centuries long war with a race of dwarves.
It was safe to say that Zhongli was not accepted into many academic circles.
He was entirely wrong. Childe could not be convinced into believing the rumors of this town. Mondstadt Valley was boring, uninteresting, and filled with people who lived more slowly than mountains moved.
The most recent excitement was the new farmer. She had arrived by bus just a week ago, and Childe was already under the impression that she would be just as boring as the rest of the town.
“Ah,” Zhongli’s voice broke the comfortable silence. He looked at the watch on his wrist and nodded to himself, “I must be off. It’s time for school, you know how Klee and Qiqi get when I’m late.”
Childe was almost tempted to make him late simply to watch him suffer the wrath of the wide-eyed pyromaniac girl. That was also an interesting occurrence, as rare as it was, and he was incredibly bored. Yet, he only stretched and put his hands behind his head as Zhongli stood to take his leave, “Have fun. I’ll be here watching for forest spirits.”
“Well you can’t see them, of course.”
He opened one eye and smiled, “How convenient. It’s almost as if they don’t exist!”
His comment was met with stark distaste. That was exactly what the professors at Oxford said about Zhongli’s last academic paper on the existence of sentient slime monsters. With a sigh, he took his leave in stony, displeased silence.
Childe would not believe it until he saw it with his own eyes. Nobody else in town seemed to agree with Zhongli either, besides the drunkard, Venti, who sang karaoke at Diluc’s saloon every night. But nobody could quite trust Venti either.
Xiao, Zhongli’s nephew, seemed to agree, though he was quiet about it. Childe only assumed that was due to the fact that Zhongli never made him pay rent.
There was nothing different about this day. It was just like the rest, with its beautiful weather and it’s beautiful waters, with the sight of the mountains in the distance and the fresh air. Childe wanted to rip his hair out from it all.
Why Signora asked him to check on the community center daily was a mystery. She couldn’t possibly believe the rumors about it being haunted, and even if she did, he never had anything to report. There was never movement inside, there was never noise. There was nothing but dust and mold and old memories.
Standing up from the bench, he sighed. He supposed he should at least explore whatever Zhongli was on about. Perhaps there was a dead body in there, one the entire community was hiding. That would certainly be a change of direction.
With a roll of his eyes and a grimace, Childe walked across the park and towards the dirt path. Once at the front of the abandoned building, he could hear the wind moaning through it’s rooms ominously. He really hoped he didn’t get bit by a spider in there, that was all that was most likely alive within its walls.
Childe swung open the door and stepped inside, unaware of the change of fate following close behind.
‘Enjoy your vacay!’
Mondstadt Valley had no cell phone towers. There was absolutely zero signal for Lumine to even think of responding to this insult of a text. How desperately she wished to call her brother and yell at him.
This was not a vacation. Aether’s passive aggressive sarcasm was not appreciated.
It had been a week in her new life already. She had not met even one person in town besides Amber and Jean. Her dinky little cabin had a gaping hole in the front porch, and her farm was covered in trees, boulders, and weeds.
But fortunately for Lumine, her fuel in life was spite.
Aether didn’t think she would last a week, and she had. Now, she just had to make it two weeks. And three. And four. And the rest of her entire life until she was an old woman. Easy enough.
If only her arms didn’t ache like hell. Lumine desperately needed a break from work.
She made her way down the front steps, careful to avoid the more rotten parts of the wood, lest her foot fall through again. It was seven in the morning, and chilly with a spring wind that bit right through her. She knew the day would warm up as it went on, though she didn’t quite feel like spending it in the sun as she usually did.
For a week straight now, Lumine had been chopping down trees.
It was unbearable. And her farm hardly looked any different than when she first began. It was overgrown, covered in boulders taller than her, and thick with weeds and tall grass. Her grandfather had left it in a sorrier state than ever.
Not that he could help it, having died and all. That tended to put a damper on productivity.
She flipped through her mail and yawned to herself. There was a postcard from her parents, and an advertisement from the local general store - it was run by a fellow named Kaeya, and seemed as if he charged insane amounts for the most mundane of things.
It was only two days ago that she received her letter from Mona. It went, as follows.
I know you have questions. Come to the tower South of your property, turn West at the knotty tree. Knock on my door, and I shall provide answers.
- Mona
It was, by far, the weirdest greeting she’d ever received. While Lumine actually did not have any questions, she followed the instructions nevertheless. In between work, she’d managed to find a moment to traverse into the woods South of her farm, follow the directions in her cryptic letter, and meet the local witch hiding in the woods.
It was no surprise that some pagan goth chick would come to Mondstadt Valley to play magic. The deep woods was the perfect place to let one's freak flag fly in peace, Lumine didn’t judge Mona at all. She was far too busy watering her one turnip plant to judge her neighbors.
That was until she offered her a very suspicious drink that might have had drugs in it. Lumine, not being a pussy, took the drink, and was promptly informed of a very important fact.
“You can see the seelies now,” Mona spoke in monotone, flipping a hand around as if drugging new residents was an everyday activity, “lucky you. Go to the community center and talk to the magical forest spirits living in the walls.”
Lumine felt like she might barf from the slightly oniony potion she’d just thrown back like a shot. “I’m really busy, actually. I don’t have time for wall spirits.”
“Just do it!”
“Eh… I’ll get around to it.”
Today was the day she would finally get around to it. That ‘witch’ would finally stop nagging her, and she could take a break from swinging an ax.
Lumine hadn’t explored Mondstadt Valley at all. Even when visiting Mona’s tower, she took no notice of the scenery around her. All she knew was that if she headed East from her front porch and kept walking straight, she would end up in the town square eventually. Jean had informed her that the entire town was abuzz since the minute she’d moved in.
With a sigh, she closed her mailbox and gathered her bearings. Grass and wildflowers lined the dirt pathway from her farm. They sparkled with morning dew beneath the rising sun, sending a fresh scent into the air. Lumine took a moment to pick a daisy and stick it behind her ear before heading into the main street of town.
As she continued to walk, buildings rose in the distance. Everything was quaint and old fashioned, as if pulled straight from a history textbook. The dirt path turned into rough cobblestone lined with rectangular planters and benches. At the head of the market square, Jean sat on the cleanest looking bench and hunched over her thick binder of papers.
There was nobody wandering around at this hour in the morning besides the acting mayor. She was the one who had greeted Lumine when she arrived by bus, though Jean was so busy that she could not visit much. The real mayor, Varka, seemed to be on permanent vacation, leaving the blonde twenty-something to take care of business.
Lumine approached hesitantly, as if approaching a wild animal, “Jean?”
With a gasp, the acting mayor jumped. She gripped her pen with white knuckles and glanced up to sigh in relief as she noticed it was just Lumine. It was admirable how quickly Jean managed to put herself back together, “Oh, it’s you. I was beginning to think you’d died out there.”
Of course she had, Lumine had been missing in action since she arrived in Mondstadt Valley. She easily could’ve died, having chopped her own head off, fallen in her pond, murdered by someone. She was open to the possibilities.
Unfortunately, she had just been incredibly busy. “Nope, just doing, you know… farm stuff. Uh,” an awkward clearing of her throat, “I was wondering where the community center was?”
“That place?” She furrowed her brows as if confused. Lumine wasn’t sure if she should tell Jean about the weird goth lady living in a tower in the woods, though she had a feeling that Mona didn’t pay taxes, and Lumine was not about to turn into a nark.
“Yeah,” she shifted awkwardly, thinking of her best excuse, “I just heard about it and got curious, I guess.”
Jean sighed heavily and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. There was a sudden melancholy hanging over her shoulders, as if the memory of the community center affected her in a way beyond Lumine’s understanding. “There’s not much to see there anymore, but you can go ahead. It’s just up that path right there, past the fountain and up the hill.”
“Past the fountain and up the hill, thanks!”
She wasn’t sure if Jean even heard her anymore. Immediately, she returned to hunching over her papers and murmuring to herself about tax returns. Lumine left her to her work and followed the given directions.
She passed the general store - the sign in the window confirmed it’s disgustingly high prices - and a collection of little houses. To her right, a river ran through the town, with a charming wooden bridge connecting both shorelines. In the far distance, a metal roof and shiny corporate walls caught her attention.
Lumine hardly paid attention to where she was going. As she walked up the hill, she took a moment to turn around and scour the rooftops below.
There wasn’t much to the town square. A clinic, a general store, all stuffed between eclectic cottages. Towards the Southern end of the town was a bigger building with tables sitting out front, Lumine could only assume that was the restaurant - and most likely the only option available. Below that was another path that disappeared into a line of trees and stretched out to become sand.
She’d have to go to the beach later. That was yet another nice thing about Mondstadt Valley; the beach had to be nice and quiet, very different from the crowded public beach in the city.
As Jean had said, the community center was atop the hill, right past the fountain. Behind the fountain was a swingset and slide that looked as if it hadn’t been used in years. Lumine wondered just how many young people lived in this town, it would be just her luck that she moved into a retirement community.
There was nobody around, nobody at the park, nobody on the road. If she kept going forward it looked as if she would end up in the mountains. The eerie abandon of the community center loomed over Lumine as she approached it’s cracked windows.
She now understood why Jean had questioned her curiosity. It was a complete dump.
The door opened with ease. There would be no use to lock it, there was nothing inside to steal. Lumine was met with a musty smell and dust rising to clog her lungs. “Hello?” She called out as she covered her nose with her sleeve, “Anyone here?”
The creak of the foundation settling, and the rustle of bugs in the overgrown weeds. Lumine lowered her sleeve and took in the sight.
It looked like a relatively normal abandoned building. There were holes in the floor, a broken aquarium, half-stripped wallpaper. It wasn’t too different from the cabin she lived in now, though she’d taken care of the dust and bugs as quickly as she could.
As skeptical as she was about Mona and the drugs she gave her, Lumine remained interested in exploring the abandoned community center. It was beautiful, in a way, how man-made buildings always returned to nature in the end.
If only the floor did not squeak. If only the walls did not moan with the wind. If only there was not the hint of a blue flash from the corner of her eye, followed by a sound that could only be described as shimmering.
Something was shimmering. Lumine didn’t think that was possible, yet there it was, floating down the hallway and leaving streaks of light behind it.
She blinked. She froze. And instantly realized:
It’s official, the community center is haunted.
Lumine had watched enough horror movies to understand what to do next. Aether would be the smart one and run away, but Lumine prided herself on her risk-taking ability. She had always been the more adventurous twin between the two of them. With a determined nod, she followed the ball of blue light down the hallway.
It seemed to stop and look at her for half a second. It had no face, no body, yet floated mid-air curiously nevertheless. Before Lumine could say anything, it turned around and continued to a room at the end of the hallway.
Her heart was racing. Nervous, forcing herself to move, she followed it.
There was mold on the walls and holes in the floor. The wood creaked beneath her feet with each step as she entered. The room was entirely empty, besides a golden tablet laying in the middle of the floor.
Lumine recalled Mona saying something about ‘seelies’. Whatever that was, the name fit the ball of blue. It danced above the tablet for a moment, until Lumine took one step closer, and it faded away into nothingness.
Weird. It was all too weird. Perhaps those drugs weren’t really drugs, perhaps Mona truly was a witch. Perhaps there were forest spirits in the walls. The closest Lumine had ever been to a situation like this was when she swore the mannequins moved behind her back at the mall. Aether would call her insane once she told this story.
She had two options. First, run and never speak of it again. Or two, pick up the golden slate and try to make sense of it all.
The curiosity was too great, and Lumine found herself choosing the latter.
It was interesting how she was not having an existential crisis at the moment. Perhaps she was stronger than she thought, or perhaps quitting her job and moving to the countryside had instilled her with a bit of courage. There was hardly anything scarier than the current state of her farm at the moment.
Carved on the front of the tablet were shapes and letters she didn’t recognize. She dropped to her knees on the dusty floor and took a closer look.
Without realizing, the first word began to make sense. “Dandelions.” How she could read this unknown language, she had no idea. She moved onto the second. “Small Lampgrass.” And the third. “Windwheel Aster… Is this just someone’s grocery list?”
Damn ghosts wanted to make her do their grocery shopping. Well, she was far too busy, they could just find someone else to do their chores. Lumine set the tablet back down and huffed as she pushed herself off the floor, “I’m not doing it, I’m-”
“-Hey girlie, hold still.”
Lumine did not hold still.
In fact, Lumine did the exact opposite of ‘hold still’. She screamed. She screamed and whirled around to elbow the unexpected intruder in the stomach. The abandoned halls echoed with her shout, along with the groan of pain from a man’s throat as he bent over from the impact of her hit.
Lumine scrambled herself as quickly as she could. With her heart racing, she scooped up the golden tablet and stuffed it into her backpack so the newcomer would not see, “W-What the hell, man?”
She could not make out his face, though his vibrant and messy hair was clear in his current state of pain. He leaned one hand on the doorframe and coughed into his elbow. Despite the obvious struggle of being hit in the kidneys by a very small girl, laughter could be heard between his heavy breaths.
It was as if he thought her fear was funny. Any amount of pity Lumine felt instantly disappeared as he looked up to finally meet her gaze, “You have a spider in your hair, I was going to get it out.”
That’s why he told her to hold still.
She saw, now. And despite the delayed reaction as Lumine processed his words, she, nevertheless, took a deep breath, and screeched at the top of her lungs.
“Get it out! Get it out!” Her hands were in her hair instantly, shaking and ruffling in frantic attempts to free herself from a venomous grasp.
“Come on,” this man, whoever he was, approached carefully. He put his hands on Lumine’s wrists to stop her, “Stay still. I can’t get it if you keep moving around.”
She obliged with tense shoulders and her eyes squeezing shut. He held her wrist with one hand, and released the other to reach into her hair, making her squeal in fear once more and bounce on the balls of her feet. She heard him laugh to himself, “Stay still.”
She was trying to, but the spider could be crawling into her ear and eating her brain by then. Bits of her braids stuck out in wild tendrils, now knotted and messy with her panicked tousling. Lumine’s heart calmed as his fingers brushed over the top of her ear, and he leaned in closer.
This man had seemingly come from nowhere. She didn’t hear him walk up, she heard no creaking of the wood, nor his breathing. He skulked like a shadow, appearing behind her with his stupid nickname, as if materializing from thin air. She did not think she was too engrossed in the incredibly mysterious grocery list to notice.
Lumine opened her eyes to look up at him. His smile was crooked as he finally pulled the spider from between her braids and flicked it onto the floor, “It was harmless, I just thought you’d like to know.”
“Thank you,” Lumine took a deep breath - he was still holding her wrist, “But you could’ve announced yourself a little less weirdly.”
“Sorry to scare you…” the crooked smile turned charmingly mischievous as he met her gaze, blue meeting brown, “I was just super interested in what you were saying before.”
“Y-You were watching me?”
He grimaced, “Don’t say it like that, that sounds creepy. Plus, I was here before you were.”
“I don’t believe that,” Lumine yanked her wrist away and took a much needed step back, “I didn’t see you when I came in.”
“I was on the other end of the building. I heard you walking around and came to investigate. That’s all.”
If he truly had come to investigate well enough to hear her murmuring the ghost’s grocery list out loud, then he had to have seen it as well. Lumine’s chest lifted with relief as she realized that she was not going insane. “So you saw it too?”
The odd man only blinked. It was a crime how tall he was, towering over her like a walking skyscraper. She’d have to kick his knees for that. “Saw what?”
“The…” her fear returned instantly, “the ghost?”
“Ghost?” His eyes widened, “I didn’t see anything like that. Perhaps it was a magical forest spirit living in the walls?”
Again with the forest spirits in the walls. “No, pretty sure it was a ghost.”
“Ah, makes sense.” He nodded to himself, “I’ll have to tell Zhongli that he’s wrong, then, he hates it when I do that.”
“Who?”
“Zhongli, the old guy?”
She stared flatly, “Never met him.”
“You know…” his gaze narrowed in suspicion, “I’ve never met you before. What’re you doing here?”
Lumine returned the look, “What’re you doing here?”
“Checking out real estate for my company.”
A normal enough answer. “I’m here by command from a lady who lives in the woods.”
He smiled down at her as if she was stupid. “Nobody lives in the woods beside that weird guy who thinks he’s a wolf.”
“Well, I didn’t meet him, but I did meet a lady who thinks she’s a witch.”
“Huh… life is full of mysteries…” He put his hand to his chin and closed his eyes, nodding to himself. “You must be the new farmer that just moved in, right? I heard about you from Amber.”
That was enough to catch the gasoline in her heart and light an instant forest fire. Lumine despised gossip about herself. That feeling of having no control over what people said about her was something she’d never welcomed. “What did she say?”
He shook his head, causing yet another lock of messy ginger hair to fall into his face as he did so, “I’m not telling you, then you’ll get all arrogant.”
“You don’t even know me!”
“I can see it in your eyes.”
Lumine could only groan. First, he sneaks up behind her and scares the soul straight from her body. Secondly, he stands too close and fills up her senses to a degree nobody besides her ex-boyfriend ever had. And third, he implies that she’s arrogant and big-headed.
She was, but that was beside the point.
Silence fell between them. A tension, a relationship formed within the five minute conversation they shared. Lumine put her hands on her hips and glared up at him, while he crossed his arms and smiled down at her. She could easily see this man having fox ears and a tail with how mocking his expression was.
It was as if he was enjoying their silent standoff. She hated every second of it.
“Girlie, you have another spider in your hair.”
(She hoped his ears hurt from how loudly she screamed.)
So far, Lumine knew a total of four people.
Jean, Amber, Mona, and the weird ginger guy. She had her ax named Harold, but it didn’t count much since he couldn’t speak, and wasn’t alive.
She decided, as she ran out of the community center with dusty clothes and a head full of spiders, that the only person she could speak to about the ghost grocery list was Mona. The ginger guy was too annoying, Jean was too busy, and Amber was too… Amber-ish. Mona was the one who sent her there in the first place, too, perhaps it might even be her grocery list.
Yet, when she ran through the town, into the woods and towards the tower hidden in the distance, she quickly found that Mona was not home. No matter how much she banged on the front door, it was not answered.
Thus, Lumine gave up, and returned to her farm to water her one turnip plant.
Her arms ached far too much today to swing an ax. And she didn’t even want to think about tackling those boulders. Weeding was boring, and watching her turnip wouldn’t make it grow any faster. She continued to have no signal on her phone, no wifi, and no motivation to write Aether a letter.
Lumine decided that this day had already been quite exciting, why not make it even more so? She would finally go into town and meet the rest of the villagers - avoiding the ginger guy as best as she could.
It was not difficult to meet everybody there was. The clinic was run by a man named Baizhu, with his adoptive daughter Qiqi. The general store located right next to the clinic was run by a man named Kaeya who tried to talk her into buying a new backpack for 10,000 mora.
No purchases were made that day.
Noelle, Jean’s assistant, wandered around town. The girls at the church, Barbara and Rosaria, seemed to carry on a good cop/bad cop air about themselves that instantly made Lumine want to confess all her sins. A very short pink haired girl named Diona stopped her in the street and asked her what her view was on the liquor industry, then ranted for 10 minutes straight afterwards. This was followed by a girl named Xiangling who did the exact same thing, but it was about spicy food, and it was less of a rant and more of an endearing ramble.
Diona and Xiangling worked for the only restaurant in town, the Angel’s Share. It was run by Diluc, who Lumine met for five seconds, before the air between them became incredibly awkward, and they both stuttered out excuses and quickly retreated from each other.
The library was located to the East of town. The librarian, Lisa, was rather affectionate. The college student who haunted it’s halls was Xinqiu, who recommended to her an entire stack of new books. Towards the back of the library were two small children, and a dark haired man who looked to be teaching them the ins and outs of historical artifact dating - for some reason.
There was the graveyard keeper, Hu Tao, she gave Lumine a coupon on headstones - it was actually a good deal. The musician, Xinyan, who was working on her breakthrough album. A short man named Venti, who annoyed Diluc with his signature ukulele. And two boys named Chongyun and Xiao, who spent their time on the bridge overlooking the river.
She’d met as many people as she could. And she’d avoid the weird ginger while she was at it. Her day would have continued to be wonderful if she had not seen him walking over the bridge, towards the corporate building at the very edge of town, talking on his phone that somehow had a signal in this boondock town.
She could only frown at the sight. He didn’t notice her watching from afar, simply continuing his trek down the well-worth path and speaking in low tones. She checked her own cell phone and huffed at how she couldn’t pick up a signal if she tried.
“Hey,” Xiangling caught her attention with a nudge, “are you listening, or do you just hate chilis?”
“No, no,” Lumine faked a smile, “they’re fine. What were you saying?”
“I was saying that you should come to the saloon tonight!”
Lumine blanked at the use of words. Saloon, as if she had to wear spurs just to be let inside. She grimaced, “Why?”
“Because it’s Friday,” Xiangling clenched her fists in excitement, “everybody comes by on Fridays! And I’m making pepper poppers, and Diona’s got a new drink she wants everybody to try!”
Judging from how vehemently Diona spoke towards liquor earlier, Lumine wasn’t sure if she wanted to try anything she ever made. “Does the whole town gather there or something?”
“They sure do! There’s dancing, and Xinyan and Barbara sing sometimes, and Venti plays his instruments and tells stories! It’s tradition,” an affirmative nod, “you have to come. In order to live in the Valley, you have to embarrass yourself at karaoke at least once.”
She’d done that many times in the city already. “Does he do it?” Lumine jerked her head in the direction of the unnamed man. Xiangling followed her eyes and frowned as she watched him lean against the side of the bridge, still talking on the phone.
“Childe?”
“Childe?” Her nose scrunched in confusion, “That’s his name?”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s his name name,” she shrugged, “but that’s what he’s called… He comes every Friday too, but kind of just sits in the corner with Zhongli and Xiao. Why do you ask about him?”
The last thing she wanted was Xiangling making assumptions. Lumine waved a hand, “Oh, no reason. We just met earlier, but only for a minute.”
“I would stay away from him if I were you…”
That caught her attention, not that she needed to be told twice. “Why?”
She bit her lip in thought for a moment, “Well… I think if he could bulldoze the Valley and turn it into a parking lot, he would.”
“Then why is he here?” She asked.
“I don’t know,” Xiangling hummed and put a finger to her chin, “I think the Fatui Corp sent him to work on buying out property here. They managed to put a market over there,” she nodded in the direction of the metal roof and shiny walls Lumine had noticed that morning, “but at Angel’s Share we prefer the fresh produce from Mister Kaeya’s store!”
Mister Kaeya, who had insisted that his carrots being 500 mora each was a good deal. Lumine sent Xiangling a look, “I’m just curious… but how are the prices at Angel’s Share?”
“I think 100 mora for a beer, 200 for a wine, 300 for a salad, uh, lemme think of more…”
“I-It’s like I’m at some rich person’s vacation community…”
“But it’s the best food you’ll ever taste!”
Doubt. Nothing could be better than the dinky pizza place below her apartment in the city. She’d get married in that pizza shop if she had the choice. It had only been a week in Mondstadt Valley, and Lumine was already reminiscing about city food.
Yet, at 6:32 p.m. that evening, Xiangling was proven correct.
The food and drinks at Angel’s Share were the best she’d ever tasted. Not even Venti’s cover of annoying pop songs could ruin the meal.
Everybody in town truly did come to the saloon. Even Klee and Qiqi were upstairs playing in a bedroom. Lumine found herself at a table with Amber and Noelle near the stage, close enough to wave down Xiangling as she waited tables throughout the restaurant. Everything flowed perfectly, as if the town had lived this day hundreds of times over again.
Lumine watched the crowd with observant eyes. Xiao, Xinqiu and Chongyun remained in the back of the restaurant, surrounding the pool table with so much cool guy energy that Lumine was intimidated across the room. Hu Tao remained in front of the antique-looking arcade cabinet while they played behind her.
The night drew on with practiced ease. Lumine made small talk with Noelle, while taking in whatever information she could gather. She learned that Diluc and Jean had something neither of them wanted to admit, and Kaeya was good at telling stories and drawing in a crowd. She learned that there was a desert town close by with a mysterious casino. She learned of two scientists in the Western part of the Valley who researched the natural oddities of the surrounding area, Albedo and Sucrose.
And most importantly of all, she learned that everyone in town, everyone, despised Fatui Corp.
Which was okay, Lumine despised them too.
Childe didn’t bother her, and she didn’t bother him. Their eyes did not meet once, and no words were spoken between them. The general sentiment of the villagers about Childe was obvious distrust and suspicion, a feeling Lumine found that she agreed with. She had her one turnip plant to protect, she couldn’t possibly let his capitalism build a parking lot over her farm. She found that she, too, distrusted his intentions.
Besides, she was still mad from how he scared her earlier.
It was 10:00 p.m. when she finally left the saloon. The roads were empty and silent, with the streetlights flickering golden above. Lumine ducked under the light and walked up through the town square, lost in thought.
She had been distracted enough to keep her mind off the golden tablet she’d found. While the curiosity ate away at her, she had not been able to speak to Mona about it. Lumine stopped to pull it from her backpack and take one last look at the foreign scribbles.
Dandelion. Small Lamp Grass. Windwheel Aster.
There was a dandelion growing up beside the general store. Without another thought, she picked it and twisted the stem between her fingers.
It wouldn’t hurt to experiment. Absently, Lumine walked up the path towards the community center. With the dandelion in one hand, and the golden tablet in the other, she nudged open the door, and called out to the darkness.
“Hey, spirits, I, uh… I brought you your dandelion!”
The new farmer girl was picking weeds and bringing them to something in the community center. How odd.
She’d spoken of a ghost earlier, and she had stuffed something vibrantly golden in her bag when he’d snuck up on her. Childe leaned against the back of the general store and crossed his arms as he watched her shut the community center door behind her.
Lumine was her name, Hu Tao had told him so. Rumor had it that she had moved to Mondstadt Valley to get away from city life, as if she was running from something.
What would a simple farmer looking for peace and contentment want with a run down community center building?
While the answer itself was not obvious, the solution was.
Childe just had to earn her trust, figure out her intentions, perhaps use her for a bit of entertainment, and then finish this job so he could get out of this boring little town.
Time to get to work.