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When Lumine felt a full ache behind her eyes after meeting Albedo, she should have heeded the warnings and prevented the pain from getting worse.
She should have, but she didn't. Not when Albedo drew her in like a moth to a flame. And like staring into the sun, the longer she looked, the more her eyes burned.
She knew. She knew. Yet she lingered like a lovestruck fool she was. She stayed, even when the first tear dropped.
A crystal tear; shimmering like a star in the night sky.
The star tear fell to the ground, cushioned by the snow. And Lumine stared at the shining crystal for a while, motionless. Lumine pursed her lips together in a thin line and took a shaky deep breath in.
She really was a fool.
The harsh wind drowned out the crystalline cracking when Lumine crushed the tear underneath her heel, but the sound was so prominent in her ears.
She won't be able to escape that sound.
It’s not like she expected to anyways.
Why did she agree to this?
Lumine stares at Dragonspine with mild disdain, holding a package in her arms. When Sucrose came up to her box in hand and sheepish expression; Lumine really should have said no. But mentally thinking of Sucrose's little cat ears drooping weakened her resolve and she could never say no to Sucrose in retrospect.
Lumine hasn't seen Albedo since their last encounter in Dragonspine when she stayed at his camp longer than expected. That was also the moment the first tear dropped. Since then, there's been a flow of them whenever she was reminded of the situation she was in.
She still has faith; in herself and hopes for the future.
Apples were still red and the sky was still blue. They've just… aren't as bright and vibrant as they were when Lumine first woke up in Teyvat.
Lumine still hopes—stupidly hopes—that she'll still see all the colors of Teyvat across nations.
She still hopes she'll be able to see.
When she arrives at Albedo's camp, he's there, eyes heavily focusing on his painting. Noticing he has company, Albedo looks up, his eyes light slightly up. "Honorary Knight," he greets her, a small smile.
Lumine ignores the skip in her chest and returns his smile. "Sucrose sent some supplies over," she says, handing them to the alchemist.
"Ah yes, I was starting to run low on these materials." Albedo hums before closing the box. "Thank you. Please, allow yourself to stay a while to warm up."
If Lumine felt cold, it wasn't from the wind.
"A-Ah, no! It's fine!" Lumine holds up her hands, dismissing him. "I like the cold, so going through Dragonspine isn't that tough on me!" Even though Dragonspine really tests her love for winter because of Sheer Cold.
Lumine's brought out of thoughts when a pair of hands grab hers.
"You say that, but the redness around your face and fingertips indicate otherwise." Albedo remarks.
Whatever cold Lumine felt was no longer there, soon quickly replaced by heat and warmth flooding to her face. Then she hears Albedo softly gasp, in that moment, he lets go of her hands, his warmth fading away quickly.
That had no right to hurt her that much.
"Miss Lumine...you're crying."
Oh...was she?
Lumine blinks followed by the telltale crystalline noises rolling down her cheeks.
Oh.
Oh no.
Lumine catches the sight of unusually teal-colored tears and panic washes over her entire body. "Aha, s-sorry," she weakly laughs, hastily wiping away her tears. "The wind must have been t-too cold." Lumine internally winces to herself; what a terrible excuse.
Albedo continues to stare at her, perplexed by the sight. "I have a question if you don't mind me asking."
"Hm? Um, go ahead."
"I've never seen or heard of anyone cry out tears such as yours,"
"Like... mine?"
Albedo nods. Lumine freezes when Albedo's finger brushes her cheek, picking up a stray star tear; like morning dew on a leaf, her tear sparkles like a gem in the light.
"It shines, like a crystal fly."
She's holding her breath in, watching Albedo inspect it.
"Could it be… because you are not from this world that your tears are different from ours? Or is there another reason for this strange effect?" He ponders loudly.
Her throat's dry and she can hear her heart racing in her ears.
"Where I'm from," Lumine takes a deep breath. "Our tears are like that... biologically. There's no real specific cause for it." She lets out because it's not like it's a lie. But it's not true either.
This condition is a disease. Stemmed from unrequited love, rendering the infected colorblind in a matter of days. And if not dealt with properly... soon the disease will take away their sight too.
All over some feelings for another person. It's like her kind is cursed.
Lumine doesn't know if she wants to cry or laugh over that fact.
But Albedo believes her. Painfully, he believes her. "I see. They're very beautiful." There's a soft admiration in his eyes that Lumine can see when he looks up at her. "Quite the sight to see."
Lumine wants to let out a bitter laugh at that remark. Instead, she just bites the inside of her cheek and smiles. "I bet it is."
How ironic.
Lumine has been counting down the days since the first tear was shed. Everything was still sharp and clear, the colors have dulled out but she could still make shapes out.
She counts the days she still has of her sight.
She has already accepted the fact she won't fall out of love with Albedo. No matter how hard she tries to avoid him, these tears won't stop falling against her will.
The colors she used to see are taken, leaked out of her eyes, shattering to the ground in tiny sparkling shards.
It's hard to avoid the man she's in love with, Lumine eventually finds out. It's funny because Albedo normally keeps to himself and his experiments, taking long expeditions away from Mondstadt. Even during the Windblume festival, he wasn't actively there.
"Ludi Harpastum is coming up soon," Albedo replies when Lumine asks. "It's a festival that spans for fifteen days. It's quite famous among the children, I'll be spending some time with Klee in that span." He explains with the fondest of expressions she has ever seen on the alchemist’s face.
Lumine wants to hate him so much. She wants to hate this man for stealing her heart, soon to be her sight. But truly, can she hate someone who loves their younger sibling so much to join them in a festival?
She can't.
"I'm sure Klee will be happy to hear that." Lumine softly says in earnest.
Albedo gently smiles at her and Lumine's stupid heart races. "Will you be willing to come along? Klee quite enjoys your company, and even I can admit that I can lose sight of her when she gets excited." He mutters.
She has to say no. She needs to say no. She can't she can't—
"I'll... I'll see if I can. Fifteen days is a long time to stay for a festival..." Lumine weakly excuses. It's not a yes, but it's certainly not a no.
"That is understandable," Albedo says, his tone gentle yet Lumine can hear the slight disappointment. "If you ever do decide to stay for a few days. You're invited to accompany Klee and me."
"Yes, of course," Lumine pulls on a friendly smile, already feeling a sting in her eyes. Perhaps she should tell him. To save her heart and her sight.
Perhaps he'll return her feelings—
"Albedo I—There's something I need to tell you—"
"Mr. Albedo!" Lumine sees how his eyes light up, seeing his two assistants approach him with enthusiastic smiles on their faces. Her words quickly shrivel and die in her mouth.
"It's good we were able to catch you Mr. Albedo! Sucrose and I just discovered something that we need to show you!" Timaeus says with Sucrose nodding along. "Oh, hello Honorary Knight, I hope I didn't interrupt anything..."
"She did have to say someth—"
"N-No that's ok!" Lumine interrupts, dismissing with a wave of her hand when Albedo looks at her curiously. Her confession shouldn't be around other ears. "I-I just wanted to say that... I'll be there. At Ludi Harpastum."
"That's good to hear." Albedo seems relieved. "Klee will be happy."
But will he? He did invite her after all, but it sounded like he just needed a helping hand to watch over the little Spark Knight.
It's nothing special.
Her eyes start to sting.
"Y-Yes, ah, please excuse me I have some unfinished commissions to do." Lumine swiftly turns around and leaves the city walls, ignoring the curious gazes of the alchemists on her back when she leaves.
What turns into a walk becomes a light jog, then steadily into a sprint. She sprints until all her energy is gone and she's far away from Mondstadt. Far away from him.
Lumine slumps up against a tree, lungs aching from running but she gets the feeling it's also not just from her marathon run. She feels a wetness slide down her cheek followed by a familiar crystalline sound. Lumine turns and picks up one of the fallen fruit from the tree. A bitter laugh escapes her lips as she stares at the apple in her hands. "It's like this now?" Lumine whispers to herself, a somber smile on her face. "I bet Ludi Harpastum would have been beautiful too.."
Her star tears drop down on the fruit, twinkling against the shiny grey skin.
When Ludi Harpastum comes around the corner, Lumine's there as she promised. And just like she promised, she tags along with Albedo and Klee much to the little girl's excitement to see 'Miss Honorary Knight is joining us!'
Klee's enthusiasm honestly made it easier for Lumine to ignore the lingering fact that she was hanging out with her crush, the man who indirectly took away her colors.
Shame. There are so many decorations hung high and low just like the previous festival. It would have been colorful and bright.
Too bad Lumine can no longer see those colors.
But even so, she tries to have fun. The music was bright and lovely, the games were fun to join in on. She won't let the fact that she can't see colors anymore ruin her joy at this festival.
Albedo looks like he's having fun too.
"Big Brother Albedo! Look what Klee got!" Klee jumps, showing off a toy she just won. Albedo looks at her with a soft smile on his face and loving eyes, patting her head.
Sights like these warm her heart; briefly reminding her of one of the many reasons she fell for him. There would always be a dunk of cold water though after that, a reminder that though she fell for Albedo, her feelings were not mutual.
Lumine's convinced they'll never be.
"Lumine?" Albedo softly calls out. "You're crying again."
Ah... was she? She feels the sting in her eyes and indeed she was crying again.
She should really have better control over that.
"Ah," Lumine wipes her eyes. "Don't worry about me I was just... seeing you two makes me wish my brother was here." Not fully a lie, but not the truth either. At least, not for her star tears. Her eyes wander the plaza, a sense of longing washes over her. "He would have loved this."
"Then! When you find your brother, you should bring him here next time!" Klee chirps, hugging her legs.
If only it was that easy. A bitter thought, but nonetheless, Lumine smiles fondly down at Klee and giving her head a little pat. "Maybe, if we have time."
Time Lumine feels like she's running out of the longer she continues to cry stars.
"Speaking of time, it looks like it's starting to get rather dark now isn't it?" Lumine says but gains curious and confused gazes from both blondes.
Albedo doesn't say anything but Klee giggles. "Silly Miss Lumine! It's still noon so there's plenty of time to play still!"
Lumine pales and goes cold like a bucket of cold water from Dragonspine was dumped onto her.
It... it was still noon...? That means... her eyes—
A light touch on her shoulder. Looking up, Albedo stares at her with concerned grey eyes. "Are you alright? You don't look so well."
Stop looking at me like that. Stop reminding me how much I love you. Stop, stop, stopstopstop please stop—
"I—" she steps away from him. "I'm sorry, I just remembered something. I—I have to go," she hastily rushes out. Lumine runs out the city gates, ignoring her name being called out and how her vision is darkening by the second. Her only company is white noise ringing in her ears and the loud sounds of her crystalline tears shattering against the pavement.
Albedo doesn't see Lumine the next day, or the day after that. She doesn't come back for five days. And then she does, apologizing for running off before promising to stay for the remaining days
It was... strange. Especially from her odd behavior the last time they've met.
There's almost a blank look in her eyes, still bright as always, but something's off.
Lumine would trail behind them. Sometimes Albedo catches her staring at people's faces, but not directly in their eyes.
He already has some suspicions.
When the day is over, they head back to the headquarters to drop Klee off for the night. Before Lumine could leave, Albedo stops her. "Can I ask you to follow me Lumine?"
Lumine blinks owlishly at him, and nods, slowly following behind him to his laboratory. Her steps are light, lighter than usual as if she's being mindful of her surroundings. But why would she if she's in a safe area?
"Please, make yourself comfortable."
"Alright..." Albedo watches as Lumine looks around, almost aimlessly at first before deciding to sit in one of the stools nearby. He watches her hand subtlety touch a nearby desk when she goes to sit. "So, what do you need me here for?" Lumine asks.
"I have... a hypothesis that I want to test out." Albedo slowly says, quietly approaching her. Lumine doesn't even seem to notice he was right in front of her. Instead, she just tilts her head.
"You're not going to make me drink another weird potion are you?" She squints suspiciously and Albedo can't help but chuckle lightly at that.
"No, not this time." Carefully he raises his hand up to her face and keeps it there just a few centimeters away probably.
Lumine doesn't react. And that's all he needs.
"So, I was right..." He murmurs pulling back from Lumine's confused face.
"Right about what?"
"That you are now blind." He bluntly states and sees Lumine go rigid, further confirming his hypothesis. But.. how did this happen? Why didn't she tell anyone?
Why didn't she tell him at least?
Lumine lets out a sigh and Albedo can see almost all the energy in her just deplete out of her body. "I guess I was too hopeful to think you wouldn't figure it out." Lumine gazes down. "You are a genius after all." She says with a sad smile.
It's silent between them two. For once, Albedo doesn't have anything to say, he's speechless.
The thought of her being fully blind... It didn't sit right with him.
And that means during those days she didn't come—
"You were trying to adjust with no sight..." he remarks.
Lumine solemnly nods, a guilty expression settles on her face. "I didn't think I'd lose my sight that quickly after that day I..." She lets out a shaky breath. "Suddenly it was so dark. But I knew my eyes were open." Her voice quieter now, vulnerable even. "I was so scared," she whispers as her voice wavers. "But I think I was more afraid of someone finding out." And that someone was Albedo, but fate is never kind to her.
It's never been kind to her.
"I'm sorry that you had to find out this way." Lumine feels a hand gently take a hold of hers and she almost breaks her composure right then and there from a single caring touch.
"You don't have to apologize to me," Albedo says softly. "It's truly unfortunate but, you are still alive and present. That is all I ask for."
Lumine knows she crying because she can feel her tears roll down her cheeks and Albedo gently brushing them away. She can hear the crystalline chimes of her tears rolling down her cheeks and shattering on the floorboard.
"Do you know what could have caused your blindness?" He asks.
Yes. She does. He has it in his hands right now. But she can never admit that. She can't.
"No," Lumine replies with a sad smile. "No, I don't." She does.
Albedo doesn't need to know that her feelings for him killed her sight. He doesn't need that knowledge.
And she won't give it.
It's... It's for the best. And that's something she firmly believes in.
It shocked the whole nation to find out that their Honorary Knight is blind now. There were many frets and sympathetic tones. Even if Lumine couldn't see anymore, she can imagine everyone's pitiful faces.
She'd rather they not look at her anymore.
"Will you accompany me to Starsnatch Cliff?" Lumine prompts.
Albedo looks up at her, gazing at her blindfolded eyes. He's one of the few companions that doesn't look at her any different since the reveal. After all, Lumine has proven to be quite capable of herself blind or not. It's truly an admirable trait of hers, Albedo has a lot of respect for her tenacity.
"I can," he almost hastily agrees. "Is there a specific reason to go there?"
"No, just wanted a friend's company." Lumine hums, a small smile on her face.
A friend. That's right, they're simply just friends. A strange pang echoes in his chest—has been echoing for a while every time she refers to their relationship as that. He didn't understand. He doesn’t understand. "I see, then I hope I can be good company."
"You are, I wouldn't have asked you otherwise." Lumine lightly laughs and Albedo can imagine her eyes crinkling in mirth behind her blindfold.
Shame, he wants to see it.
They make their way up to their destination. Lumine manages to find and pluck a few Cecilias, presenting them to Albedo with a big smile.
There's a warmth in his chest as he clutches the bundle of flowers closer to him.
They linger long enough for the sun to start setting. Lumine wanders closer to the edge, being mindful of where she steps. Albedo also watches carefully, sticking close to make sure not one misstep will lead to her ultimate downfall. It worried him when she revealed to him that she had gone blind to something unknown, he would not want another ill fate to befall her again.
"Is the sight beautiful?" Lumine asks, turning towards Albedo.
He looks over at Lumine, her dress and hair gently swaying in the wind, a soft orange glow around her.
He wants to sketch this moment of her. Immortalize this scenery on paper and in memory. Paint her curves and soft edges with charcoal and show her beauty for the eyes to see.
Beauty… yes… Lumine is quite the beauty.
She’s already beautiful. She’s always been.
There's a strange tightness in his chest looking at her, feeling his breath caught in his throat. A million thoughts rush through his mind, and yet the only thought that stands out the most is how beautiful Lumine is right next to him. He allows his heart to throb for a few seconds before answering, "...yes." Albedo softly replies, his eyes never leaving Lumine. "The sight's very beautiful."
As beautiful as those star tears she once shed. Even though Lumine doesn't cry those pretty tears anymore, Albedo swears he still hears those crystalline sounds occasionally.
Strange. Has his vision always been a bit duller?