Chapter Text
It was during a windy afternoon when they first met.
Like a shooting star falling from the sky. A beautiful maiden descent gently into the ground. Her body was covered in a warm gold glow that lighten up her dim surroundings. Her short blonde hair glows the same colour as her aura, her gold and white dress swaying to the back as the winds of the afternoon brushed against her body, and the three pairs of golden wings behind her back emanating a bright glow like that of a star on the night sky.
Several seconds passed, and her boots-covered feet finally touched the ground. The golden glow that covered the blonde's body gradually disappeared as the girl breathe the fresh air around her.
Her eyes slowly open, revealing the beautiful golden orbs hidden behind them.
The blonde girl looked around her surroundings for the first time, her lips quirck up into a smile as she saw the beautiful scenery, the grassy hills she landed on are located just meters away from the sea, she could hear the rhythmical sounds of the ocean waves as well as the refreshing smell of the sea breeze. In the other end of the hills, right at it's foot was connected to a lush forest with large trees with dark bluish green leaves, the trees are big enough to make the area around the forest becomes dimmer, as if the cycle of time does not exist when staying inside, with only night as the only time existed.
In the distance, various kinds of different structures made out of wood and stones that she guessed to be buildings of a distant city where the inhabitants lived could be seen from where she's standing.
"So... This is Inazuma..." The girl Whispered, her soft voice sounds akin to a songbird from Mondstadt, a city where songs flooded the streets, and bards freely roaming around as they spreads happiness to everyone.
"It's so beautiful than I expected." She muttered, carefully walking to the edge of the hills overlooking the vast blue ocean the nation was surrounded by.
"If only Aether was here. He will regret it for not coming with me." Huffing in annoyance as she was reminded by her brother, she put her hands on her sides and closed her eyes.
Just a mere seconds later, the girl open her eyes again as her ears caught the sounds of movements not too far behind her, specifically, the sounds of footsteps on the grassy ground.
"Oh my, what do we have here?"
An alluring and mature sounded voice came from her back, and the blonde girl quickly turned around to see the approaching newcomer, or to be more accurate, newcomers.
Standing just a few meters from her are three people, all of them are female, but each of them are coming from a different races.
The one who just spoke up was a fox lady, her long elegant pure white hair and white fox ears swayed around because of the winds coming from the sea, while her soft looking giant white fox tail trailed behind her as she eyed the blonde girl with narrowed eyes full of interest. The fox lady are wearing a shrine maiden uniform with it's typical red and white colour, A smoke pipe was held between her fingers.
Another female from the group was a girl with beauty that rivaled that of a full moon shining brightly on the night sky, she has a relatively fair skin with two horns protruding from her foreheads, jutting upwards and curved into the back of her head. Her eyes are red like that of a ruby gem, her black hair are long and reached into her back, she has a battle-garb like outfit for clothes that has red and white trims.
The aforementioned horned girl have her arms clinging into the last female of the group which was an adult woman with long dark purple hair tied to a single braid. The woman's eyes has the same colour of her hair, and so does some part of her clothing which somehow also looked like it was suitable in a battlefield but also for everyday activities, how interesting.
Wave of nervousness washed over the blonde's mind at the intense glare the three woman gave her. The blonde had planned that her arrival at the nation of transience would be as quiet as possible, to avoid attracting any unwanted attention which is why she choose to land on this seemingly desolate hillsides and forest far away from the nearest city.
After all, if all of her previous visit to the other worlds has taught her anything, having an outlander that possess unnatural abilities that don't belong in this world would raise quite a ruckus amongst the ordinary people.
She never thought she would meet the inhabitants this quickly, so much for her carefully planned slow approach. Oh well, it's all far too late now, the best she could do at the moment is to convince the three ladies in front of her that she wasn't a threat to the nation.
Gulping down hard, the girl slowly raise her hand and waved at the three.
"H-Hello. It's... Nice to meet you..." The girl said with a twitching grin on her face.
"Oh? The thing could talk? How interesting." The fox lady said, putting the smoke pipe into her mouth.
The thing? could it be that they mistake her for something else that mot human? Looks like she better tell them her intentions before things went downhill.
"Ahem, I understand that you all would be warry of me after witnessing my rather unnatural arrival, but please, believe me, I'm not here looking for trouble."
The three ladies narrowed their eyes again as they watched the blonde girl's wings folded themselves before magically dematerialized into thin air, making her appearance more humane than before.
"I'm a distant Traveler goes by the name of Lumine, I'm here because I want to pay Inazuma a visit before going to the other nations, I hope I won't be a bother to you." The girl who introduced herself as "Lumine" slightly bowed before the three ladies to show them her humbleness.
Lumine could hear the three hummed as they think about what Lumine said. The horned girl was the first one to spoke up after they let the information sank in.
"I never seen anyone with that magic you demonstrated before, could it be that you're actually an Outlander?" The horned girl asked in curiosity, her hands did not let go of the purple haired woman's arm besides her, but her eyes does get softened even for a little.
Outlander, yes, that's a suitable title for Lumine, as she was not from this world.
"Uh... Yeah! that's right, I am." Lumine nodded, putting a hand on her chest.
"We've never had any distant traveler like yourself visiting our nation before." The purple haired woman, the one that the horned girl cling into, finally spoke up for the first time. "Tell me, what makes you visit Inazuma, miss Lumine?"
"Well..." Scratching their back of her head as she fidgeting in place, giving glances at the three ladies respectively, Lumine answered. "I'm just curious about what's this place looked like."
"So let me get this straight, what you're trying to say is that you are a traveler come from a different world far far away, and that you came here with your brother in search for new home to live?" The horned girl, whom Lumine learned going by the name of Chiyo asked, eyes wide full of curiosity as she looked at Lumine while her mouth occasionally chewed on the desserts she's currently eating, dangos, if Lumine remembered correctly.
"Yes, that's the gist of it." Lumine nodded with her eyes closed.
After successfully convincing the ladies, the three have brought Lumine to another location where they could freely chat with one another. This time, it was on top of a mountain overlooking the whole island where most of the inhabitants of Inazuma lived, Narukami, that was what Saiguu, the fox lady, told her.
When the four had reached the top, there was already a mat laid on ground along with a basket full of food on top of it. It turns out, the three are in the middle of a picnic, and their chosen spot are none other than the tallest mountain in Narukami island, this explained how they could find Lumine during her arrival.
"And here I thought such thing are merely a fiction." Saiguu muttered, she was lazily laying on her side, casually putting the smoke into her mouth as she listened to Lumine's stories.
"Yeah, I get that a lot." Lumine giggled a little. "It's just a specialty of my race I suppose." She said while shrugging.
"So, what even are you anyway? You look like a human, but your powers are like that of a god, and yet you can control something other than elemental powers." Chiyo asked her tone still holds the curiosity in them.
"To be honest, I don't really know myself. It's just too... Complicated you see." Lumine muttered the last part, nervously scratching her cheek.
Saiguu chuckled upon hearing that, even the smallest mutters will not escape her sensitive fox ears.
"Oh don't think about it too much, dear, we won't pry." The Kitsune said with a smirk, the way her lips quircked up makes Lumine uncomfortable for some reason.
The four sit silence for the next five minutes, Lumine tried some of the desserts the ladies brought after Chiyo encourage her to try one, sweet foods are just too appealing for her taste, but not as appealing as butter crabs of course.
"You said you have a brother, a twin," Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the voice of the purple haired woman who haven't even talked a single word after Lumine's explanation.
Ei was her name. Both Chiyo and Saiguu had told Lumine on their way to the picnic spot that Ei was apparently the God who ruled Inazuma, or at least it's second ruler.
Unlike the other Archons, Inazuma secretly have two gods ruling over the land. A twin sisters who both prevailed during an event known as the Archon war, the older one had ascended to Celestia and became the official ruler of the nation, while the younger one choose to stay by her side and become her Kagemusha, or body double in simple terms.
How interesting, Lumine and Ei are actually aren't so different than what Lumine originally thought.
As a younger twin herself, Lumine too choose to always stay by Aether side. They were inseparable ever since birth, always been cheek to cheek, even being mere meters away from each other are impossible for them without being drawn back together as kids.
As twins, they are one unit, two halves of a whole. Anything that one twin lacked are owned by the other twin. Basically, they compliment each other, be it during battle or during every day lives.
As the older twin, Aether was the most charismatic of the two, a smooth talker who likes to attract both men and women into doing his favour should he needs any. Not only that, he's also a quick learner. Whenever the twins arrived in a new world where various different languages are used based on the different places that existed within the world, Aether would always be the one who mastered them all first before teaching it to his younger twin.
With such great feats, it's no question that Lumine would always depend on her brother when she need him the most, no matter how many people commenting on her, Lumine didn't mind to always follow her brother's footsteps like a shadow. After all, they are twins, and they can't live without one another.
"Miss Lumine?"
Ei's voice snapped Lumine back into reality, with widened eyes, Lumine looked around to see everyone was staring at her in confusion, so Lumine quickly shook her head to wash all the lingering thoughts away.
"I'm sorry, I just dozed for a second there, what are you asking again?" Lumine asked, looking directly at Ei.
"You said that you have a brother, where did he go? Is he not coming with you?" Ei repeated her question with her head slightly tilted to the side, one of her hand reached into the basket to grab another stick of dangos which she proceeded to eat.
"Oh, about that..." Lumine muttered quietly, there was a hidden annoyance behind her voice. Huffing in annoyance, Lumine closed her eyes and answered. "Aether don't want to come with me. He said he's more interested in that snowy nation instead of this one, Snezhnaya the name... Wasn't it?"
Ei hummed as a form of an answer as her mouth was busy chewing on the food she ate.
"Snezhnaya huh? I guess I couldn't blame him to be interested to that place." Saiguu said, putting down the smoke pipe as she change her possition so that she was laying on her back, her head was placed on Ei's thigh despite of the narrowed glance Ei gave the Kitsune.
"What's so special about that place anyway? Aside from it's never ending winter?" Lumine asked with a bit of curiosity.
"Snezhnaya are arguably the most peaceful of all the seven nations in Tevyat." Chiyo was the one who answered, also possitioning herself so that she lay on her back and her head resting atop of Ei's other thigh, provoking a sigh of defeat from the goddess of thunder.
"It's guardian deity is the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya, also known throughout Tevyat as the goddess of love and peace." Saiguu continued, closing her eyes as she was trying to relax herself.
"Goddess of love huh?" Lumine muttered, gently rubbing her chin with her palms. "What kind of person is she?" The blonde asked again.
Swallowing the food in her throat, Ei answered. "Just as her title suggests, Tsaritsa is a goddess that embodies Love, kindness, and beauty. She ruled over Snezhnaya directly as it's queen. Since her ideal is love, Tsaritsa strived to bring eternal peace to her nation, all the while spreading love to everyone around her while she's doing it." Ei explained, a small smile formed in her face that Lumine cannot explain what could it mean.
"Huh, no wonder he really wants to go there." Lumine muttered, somewhere at the back of her head however, Lumine was already aware of Aether intentions, sometimes she never understand what was going on inside her brother's head, they just arrived in this world not too long ago, and yet her older twin had already sets out for the ladies again. What a fool.
Lumine mentally face-palmed, deciding that it's better to let Aether do whatever the heck he's doing out there alone, being twins does not mean you have to know everything that your other halves do, after all.
Oh well, that also means Lumine have all the time to enjoy Inazuma as much as she wants all by herself. It'll be lonely without her dear brother here, but at least she have these ladies to accompany her.
"By the way," the three of them turned their heads to look at Lumine. "I'm really interested with this nation. I would like to explore it, but I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with the landscape. So I was wondering..." Lumine gave each of them a somewhat pleading look.
"Will the three of you be a guide for me? Please?"
For the next several hours, the three ladies spent their time showing Lumine around the Narukami island. It was even more beautiful than what Lumine imaged.
Inazuma was filled with all kinds of unique places. Starting from the mystical Chinju Forest where the race of the playful and mischievous Tanuki lives, the Grand Narukami Shrine which is the base of operations for the shrine maidens, the infamous Yashiori Island of the never ending rainstorm where a fossil of large serpent like creature was located, and lastly, the largest mine and weapon factory in Inazuma which was located in Kannazuka Island.
At the end of their very long tour, the four returned back to Narukami island, it was already nighttime with the full moon up in the night sky.
"Well, ladies, I'm afraid we have to call it a day, I have to turn in for the night back at the shrine, there's still some things I have to manage up there." Saiguu said, turning around to look at her two friends and also Lumine, her lips formed into a mischievous smile.
"Hmm, you're absolutely right. I should probably head home too, my dear husband and my sons must be waiting for me." Chiyo nodded in agreement before looking at Lumine with her usual bright smile. "It was really nice meeting with you, miss Lumine, I hope we could see you again soon."
"Likewise, Lady Chiyo." Lumine returned her smile with a smile of her own and also a nod, putting her hand on her chest. "Also, can you drop the "miss", please? Just call me Lumine, I never used to be called with such honorifics."
Chiyo giggled, covering her mouth with her fingers. "You say that when even yourself still called me a lady."
A faint red blush appeared on Lumine's cheek as she rubbed the back of her head. "Well... You are an important figure in Inazuma after all, while I was nothing, so it's a bit wrong to call your name so casually." She muttered while looking downwards to the ground.
Saiguu could be heard chuckling at her statement, putting her smoke pipe away, she said. "Oh don't put yourself down like that, dear, let's not forget that you have befriended both the high priestess of Narukami and also the mighty Raiden Shogun of Inazuma herself, only a few people have that kind of privilege here, you should be proud of it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Smiling, Lumine also chuckled along.
"By the way, Lumine." Lumine turned her head towards Ei. "You said earlier during our tour that you want to stay in Inazuma for a while, but where is exactly are you going to stay?" She asked while eyeing Lumine.
Oh.
That's right, she haven't thought that far yet.
Normally, Lumine would always be with Aether when they are traveling worlds together. With his quick learner nature, Aether would always quickly think of a solution should any trivial matters such as this happened during their travel. But now that the two are separated, it's all up to Lumine now.
"Hmm, I heard the people of Tevyat use this object called Mora as currency, right?" Lumine asked, receiving a feeble nod from the three as an answer. "Well... I'm afraid I don't have any, and there's no way someone would let me stay in their properties without paying. So I guess I'll just have to stay outside." Lumine shrugged with a sigh, truth be told, she was quite curious about how Inazuma looked like during night time, especially in places such as Chinju Forest or Yashiori island.
Everyone went silent so Lumine slowly start to backing away from them.
"Welp, I guess I should start looking for some place comfy enough to rest then, see you guys later, thanks for today." Turning around, Lumine was about to walk away when Saiguu tug her dress.
"Now, now, where do you think you're going, dear?" Saiguu's mature voice sounded so strange to Lumine's ears that it sends shiver down her spine.
"Um..." Lumine slowly turned her head to look at the Kitsune directly into her eyes, surprised at the intensity her gaze holds.
"Do you really think we would let our most esteemed guest sleep out in the open like that?" Saiguu asked, still using that same voice.
"W-Well, where will I be staying then?" Lumine asked back, gulping down the lump in her throat.
"Ah, I know!" Chiyo said of blue, bumping her fist into her palm as she smiled. "Why don't you just go with Ei? Ei lives in Tenshukaku which is the largest building in Inazuma city. Since you are a special guest of the Raiden Shogun, there's no way the guards won't let you in to stay."
"C-Chiyo! Don't just dump her on me like that!" Ei suddenly yelled, her sudden shift in personality greatly shocked Lumine.
"Coming with Ei?" Lumine tilted her head to the side. "Is it really okay for someone like me to spend a night on your place?" Lumine asked, looking at Ei who was struggling to reply.
"Oh, you don't need to be so nervous like that, dear. Ei loved it when someone would have a sleepover with her." Saiguu whispered, purposely making it loud enough for Ei to hear.
"Saiguu... Not you too." Ei grumbled her voice is shaking with what Lumine interpreted as embarrassment.
"Really?" Lumine asked in slight disbelief.
"Yes, it's really true." Chiyo giggled even louder. "Also, do you know that Ei is a really cuddly person? I remember this one time when I have a sleepover at her place, when I wake up in the morning, she was hugging me from behind so tight that I have no choice but to stay there until she wakes up." Chiyo's giggles turn into full laughter now when she saw the red blush slowly crawling into Ei's face.
"Oh stop it you two!" Ei's face are red as a tomato now, and her two friends continues laughing out loud.
Even Lumine could not help herself but to lets out a chuckle as well.
In the end, Lumine finally agreed to come with Ei to Tenshukaku. After a quick parting with Saiguu and Chiyo, the two went to Ei's home via secret pathway designed for her, since having the Shogun casually walking down the streets of the city with an unknown guest would cause some unwanted attention.
Ei also said that she wants to avoid creating a confusion amongst her people because there's no guarantee that her twin, Makoto, was currently inside Tenshukaku or not.
Several minutes later, the two finally inside. The insides of the palace was tidy and good looking. Every furniture is placed on the right place, no litter was seen anywhere, and the dim lamp beautifully illuminate the many rooms it has fittingly.
"Makoto is not here, it seems." Ei whispered, eyes downwards as she rubbed her chin.
"Hmm, that's too bad, I'd like to know what kind of person she is." Lumine said, putting her hand on her hips as she continues to look around.
"I'm going to prepare the room for the two of us. Feel free to look around while I'm preparing."
"Okay." Lumine nodded as Ei walk away, leaving her alone to explore the huge palace.
Lumine walked around the Tenshukaku to explore and getting used to the place, finding and trying to remember the location of certain places such as bathroom, kitchen, and living room.
Eventually, when she was walking around the castle grounds, she came across a beautiful garden filled with sakura trees. Transfixed by the sight, she decided to enter it, walking around the garden whilst staring in awe at the beauty.
Lumine caught something at the corners of her eyes, and when she look at it, she spotted someone with a braided purple hair. The person was a female with the same height and appearance as Ei.
"Ei?" Lumine slowly approached the Ei look alike until she was a few meters behind them.
"Ei, what are you doing here? I thought you are preparing for our room." Lumine asked curiously, the person she thought to be Ei seemed already aware of Lumine's presence behind her.
"Oh? The esteemed guest are already here, huh?" The person spoke up, with the same identical voice of Ei.
Slowly, but elegantly, the person turned around to look at Lumine. And that was when the blonde realized that the lady in front of her aren't the Kagemusha she knows, but the Raiden Shogun herself.
"My sister really have taste when it comes to cute girls, huh?" The lady with the same face as Ei chuckled at her own statement.
"You are... Raiden Makoto?" Lumine whispered, but loud enough for the other woman to hear.
"Please, Ei's friend is also my friend, call me Makoto." Makoto said with a gentle smile on her face.
Makoto looked exactly the same as Ei, the only differences between the two sisters is only their clothing. While Ei wears dark kimono designed to fit both everyday life and also while in the battlefield. Makoto wears a light purple kimono that suits everyday life as the ruler of Inazuma. She have a purple umbrella held in her hands, and now that Lumine looked closely, Lumine spotted a cute little pink furred fox resting on Makoto's arms.
"You already know of me? How?" Lumine asked, her voice are full of curiosity and disbelief.
Makoto chuckled. "It's a bit complicated, let's just say it's one of my powers as an Archon. Also, I just saw you and Ei when the two of you are about to enter Tenshukaku, so I already know that you're the newest addition of Ei's group of friends." Makoto explained as she walked closer to Lumine.
Despite of the same physical appearance, Makoto have a different personalities than Ei. Unlike the kind but stoic Ei, Makoto seems more relaxed and carefree than her sister, the feelings that the two emanate are very different.
"Have you meet with Yae? Would you like to say hi?" Makoto asked, gesturing to the tiny fox held in her arms. So it's name was Yae huh?
"What a cute little fox." Lumine cooed, leaning closer to pet the fox with her fingers. The tiny fox seemed to enjoy the caress until Lumine's fingers accidentally touch it's ears and Yae suddenly bit her index finger, eliciting a surprised gasp from Lumine who immediately rubbed her bitten finger.
Makoto giggled upon seeing what happened and shook her head. "Looks like she already like you." Makoto giggled again upon receiving a glare from Lumine. "Don't worry, I know it seems like it, but it's just Yae's unique way of marking something that she liked. Believe me, I've received even more bites from her than you can imagine."
Lumine was about to say something when the sounds of someone approaching from behind her can be heard. Turning around, she found Ei was walking towards the two of them.
"Lumine, what are you doing here? The room is ready and... Oh, Makoto, you're here." Ei looked at her older twin with a slightly wide eyes.
"Hello, Ei." Makoto greeted with a little bow since both of her hands are occupied at the moment. "Did you have fun with your day? I see you have a new friend, can't help yourself but to get allured by her cuteness, huh?"
"Makoto..." Ei grumbled as her twin chuckled by Ei's embarrassment.
"Anyway, I'm sure it's been a long day for the two of you. I will be here for a little while. So make sure you have enough rest, okay?" Lumine and Ei both nodded.
"Come on, follow me." Ei said before walking away, followed by Lumine.
"Oh, and Ei, one more thing." Both Lumine and Ei turned to look at Makoto again, the Electro Archon have a wide mischievous smile on her face.
"I know you always need a cuddle buddy whenever you go to sleep, but please be gentle with her okay? We can't let our esteemed guest getting freaked out after all."
Not even a second later after Makoto said that, Ei's face is already beet red.
"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"
Ei's room is just like what Lumine imaged ever since she met the purple haired woman.
There's not much furniture, but the existing decorations inside clearly reflect Ei's personality, a warrior, always ready to answer her master's call. There's different kinds of swords and spears hanged on the wall, while on the other wall, several battle garbs and kimonos with different styles hanged on it. Finally, two white futons are laid on the middle of the room.
"Your room looked so good." Lumine nodded to herself. "You know, back in my homeland, I too used to have a room similar to this, although it's a bit more girlier."
"Really?" Ei asked with a bit of curiosity in her voice.
"Yeah, but that was a long long time ago though." Lumine muttered before approaching the wall where Ei stored her weapons.
"So many spears, you really like these things huh? Which one you like the most?" Lumine asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Ei.
"That one. One with the purple hilt." Ei said while pointing her finger at the said weapon.
"Whoa, it looks gorgeous." Lumine's mouth formed an 'o' as she inspected the polearm closely.
Lumine's eyes drifted across the wall to see other kinds of stuff Ei has, and one thing in particular managed to catch her interest.
"What's this?" It was an odd looking red mask with a long beak like feature that makes it resembles a crow.
"That's..." Ei's voice sounds normal for a second, but in the next second it dropped, and her voice sounded weak, full of hidden sadness.
"Ei?" Lumine looked at the woman worriedly, her hands are holding the red mask.
"That's... It's a tengu mask." Ei finally answered with a weak voice.
"Tengu? What's that?"
"It's one of the many different races existsd in Inazuma." Ei explained gently taking the mask from Lumine's palms. "They are a race of powerful and prideful warriors. Just like the samurais, they also served the Inazuma shogunate as our warriors and sometimes generals."
Caressing the mask carefully, Lumine watched as Ei closed her eyes and continue her story.
"This particular mask once belonged to a tengu general by the name of Sasayuri. He was a prideful general of the shogunate army a long time ago, but above all else, what makes him special to me is the fact that he was my first ever friend."
Oh. Lumine knows where this conversation will headed, and she regretted for ever asking.
"As my sister's body double, I always kept my identity a secret from the world, as the heavenly principles of Celestia stated that only one Archon are allowed to rule a nation."
Ei approached the wall and put the tengu mask back at it's place.
"At the end of the Archon war, I sacrificed my own body in order to let my sister ascended to the throne of the gods in Celestia. That was when she became the Electro Archon, create the nation of Inazuma, and become it's Raiden Shogun." Ei sighed as she bump her forehead against the wall.
"However, for Makoto, being ascended to the divine thrones are nothing compared to the importance of family. By using her divine powers, she recreated my body and bring me back to life, making me the secret second ruler of Inazuma, acting as her Kagemusha and body double. We've hold this secret for more than thousands of years. And Sasayuri was the first ever person to find out the truth, but he never told anybody about it and keep it to himself. That is how we became friends."
"I see..." Lumine muttered, unsure of how to reply.
"As my first ever friend, we are close, really close." Ei sighed again walking away from the wall. "Just like right now, we would go to picnic together when we have spare time, we spar with each other to improve my martial arts, and sometimes we just spends quality time to know each other better."
Ei's lips formed into something of a bittersweet smile.
"Eventually, after feeling how good it is to have a close friend like that. I desired to have even more friends, and that was how I met Saiguu and Chiyo." Ei explained her head looking down at the ground.
"What happen to him, did he fell in a battle?" Lumine asked, albeit a little hesitantly.
Ei nodded in response. "Thousands of years ago, Orobashi, the guardian deity of Watatsumi suddenly attacked Yashiori island and harmed my people who lived in there."
"Orobashi... he's the serpent that we just saw today, isn't he?" Lumine asked and Ei nodded in response.
"Following their deity's will, the people of Watatsumi also accompany the giant snake during the attack. Sasayuri was the general that led the Shogunate army to retaliate the attack, while I was the one who slay the giant snake. It was a terrible day for both sides. So many people died during the war, Sasayuri was one of those people."
Ei put her hand on her face as she silently start mourning over her friend's death.
"That's also when I realized, just as it was good for having a close friend like that, you must also prepare to face the sadness of losing a friend when the day comes for us to part ways."
Ei continues to just stand there in silence for the next sixty seconds. And when she thought nothing would happen, she was surprised when Lumine suddenly warped her arms around Ei's waist.
"I'm sorry." Lumine said, her voice was gentle but weaker than it's usual tone. "I should've never asked that. I understand how's it feel to lose someone precious to you."
Ei just stood there in silence, enjoying the warm feeling blooming in her chest from the affectionate hug Lumine gives her.
"I've said before that Aether is my only family. But the truth is, he is the only family I have left."
Ei looked behind her to see Lumine burried her face into her back.
"Aether and I came from a race known as the Travelers. We possessed the special abilities to travel between worlds that no other races have." Lumine took a deep breath before continuing her story. "However, not everyone in our races have that ability, so they were forever stuck in our harsh and almost inhabitable home world."
"You and your brother are the only special one, huh?" Ei asked, and Lumine nodded.
"Immortality is both a blessing and a curse. With our powers, me and my big brother are going to be together for the rest of eternity, traveling from world to world together. But it also came with price of watching our loved ones eventually leaving us as they continue to grow more and more older while we are forever stuck at the age of when we awakened our hidden powers."
Ei nodded in agreement of Lumine statements. The two holds their current position for three minutes until Lumine finally released Ei and let's out a relieved sigh.
"Anyway, it's already late right now. We should really go to sleep." Lumine said and Ei nodded.
Lumine took off her boots, scarf, and hair accessories to put it neatly at the corner of the room along with her dress, leaving her in her bloomers and black top before settling comfortably inside the futon. Ei also get inside her futon without even taking off her dress.
"Are you going to sleep in that?" Lumine asked, eyeing Ei as the woman laid herself on the ground.
"Hmm, this dress are designed to not only for battlefield, but also for doing daily chores inside or outside the Tenshukaku including sleeping. No need to worry about me being uncomfortable." Ei answered with a small nod.
Lumine was about to ask about how that could possibly worked but eventually decided against it.
"Good night, Ei."
"Good night to you too, Lumine."
Taking a deep breath, Lumine closed her eyes and let the wave of sleepiness washed over her mind. Hours for hours has passed, and the dark night was replaced by the warm morning.
Lumine stirred her eyes open upon hearing the sounds of birds chirping outside the window. The lamps in the room have been turned off, replaced by the warm morning sunshine pouring into the room through the windows.
Lumine was about to get up but find that she couldn't because her body felt so heavy for some reason. That's also when she realized that there was something warped around her body, and there was something soft brushed against her bare back.
Gulping hard, Lumine slowly turned her head around to look at the thing who trapped her in place.
Sure enough, the Kagemusha of Inazuma was directly behind Lumine. Her arms are wrapped around Lumine's mid section, pulling the smaller girl into her until the woman's chest was touching Lumine's back, her warm breaths tickled Lumine's neck, and her legs pinned Lumine into the ground. Effectively trapping Lumine with no way out.
"Ei! Let go of me!"
For the next several days, Lumine continue to spent her times exploring Inazuma. Getting used to it's landscape, learning it's various culture, and most importantly, continue to deepen her friendship with Ei, Saiguu, and Chiyo.
Makoto once said that prior to having any friends, Ei was once a lonely and sad person, with her work as the Kagemusha along with Makoto as her twin sister being the only goal she have in mind.
There's only a small handful of people in Inazuma that had a long lifespan that reached hundreds or thousands of years old. Sasayuri's demise would forever scarred Ei's soul as that was the first ever time she experienced a loss of something she holds so dear.
Lumine, as an immortal completely understand the feeling that Ei had experienced, and that's why she hoped that she would have the opportunity to continue being Ei's friend, even if one day she would eventually leave this world behind, at least her memory would continue exist until she died. That was what Saiguu taught her.
Today was one of those rare days where the four of them have a time off from their usual busy activities. The four reunited at the same place as before, at the highest mountain peak in Narukami, Saiguu laid the mat on the ground while Chiyo brought out a basket full of desserts.
Laughter filled the air as they continue exchanging interesting stories. Saiguu recounts her stories of being the high priestess of Narukami and about her various friends she interacted daily. Chiyo recounts about her campaign across Inazuma as Ei's trusted ally, and sometimes she also talked about her family.
Lumine in the other hand recounts her experience while exploring Inazuma, including her visits to the two other island that she unfortunately unable to go into during her first tour because of both Saiguu's and Chiyo's warning of it's danger.
Aside from that, Lumine also tells them of the embarrassing act Ei committed during her sleepover in Tenshukaku, and as expected, both Chiyo and Saiguu burst out laughing while Ei is getting angry for Lumine to reveal it and also for her two friends for laughing at it.
Lumine also tells them about her participation on yesterday's Inazuma festival, telling them her experience during the festival and also about how she convinced Ei to join her as well, despite of Ei's initial refusal, she eventually agreed to come with Lumine to the festival after Makoto convinced her to.
From that point on, Lumine's stories are all about how she spends her time with Ei during the duration of her stays in Inazuma, be it becoming her sparring partner to improve her martial arts, buying or sometimes making desserts for her, and also exchanging stories of their personal life. At the end of the story, Lumine noted at the drastic changes in Ei's personalities ever since then, and the other two hummed in response.
"My, my, you really are special, huh? No one's ever been able to convince Ei to be more active on having fun like this before. I'm feeling a bit jealous of you." Saiguu muttered aloud, putting down her smoke pipe down on the mat.
"Yeah, I never seen her being so happy like this, is there any secret of how you're doing it?" Chiyo asked in curiosity, eyeing Lumine with interest.
"There's no secret at all, I guess I just followed any advice that Makoto gave to me about taking care of her sister while also follow anything I have in mind for Ei to make her happy." Lumine answered while sipping the fresh cup of tea she have in hand.
"Aww, that's so sweet of you, dear. You know, if you continue to do that, you might stopped being her friend again." Saiguu said out of blue.
"And why is that?" Ei asked, eyeing the Kitsune in suspicion.
"Because you're going be more like her girlfriend rather than a simple friend." The Kitsune said before laughing.
Lumine blushed at the strange statement and frantically tried to deny anything that the Kitsune thought of her. Ei is also visibly embarrassed by the statement, but oddly didn't try to deny anything and just sat there in silence.
The three continued their picnic for the next two hour before Chiyo suddenly sit up straight as she spotted something in the sky.
"Everyone, look!" Following the directions Chiyo's finger pointed at, everyone turned their heads to look at the strange object in the sky that have a colour of gold and moving at high speed. "Is that a shooting star? At broad daylight?"
Something throbbed inside Lumine's heart, and she immediately stood up, her eyes are glaring directly into the moving object in the sky.
"No, that's not a shooting star. It's him." Everyone looked at Lumine. "It's Aether." Stepping out of the picnic mat, Lumine waved her arms up in the air and repeatedly screamed her brother's name.
The flying objects abruptly stopped it's movements for several seconds before it change it's course to the location Lumine was currently at.
The object came to a halt right in front of Lumine, and the blinding golden glow gradually disappeared to reveal the person behind it.
It was a boy, with height slightly taller than Lumine, his hair are long and tied into a braid with the colour identical to Lumine's but a bit more deep and lighter. He wears a dark outfit that contrast Lumine's white dress with a scarf was trailing behind his back.
The golden glow around the boy finally disappeared when his feet touched the ground. Taking a deep breath, the boy opened his eyes to reveal the familiar golden orbs that his sister also possessed. His gaze are sharp but calm, looking directly into his younger sister's eyes.
"Aether, you finally here!" Lumine exclaimed happily at her brother's arrival.
"Lumine..." Aether silently whispered his sister's name.
"Oh, you don't know just how much fun I have while being in here, have you meet my new friends? Why don't introduce yourself and-"
"Lumine, come with me." Aether said with a serious tone, causing Lumine to stop whatever she was about to say due to the shock of hearing her brother being so serious.
"W-What? Where?" Lumine asked confused with what Aether was trying to say.
"We need to return to Khaenri'ah now, there's some big problem going on in there, and we need to see it." Aether explained, his hand reached forward for Lumine to take.
"Problems? What kind of problems that needs us to be in there?" Lumine asked, if there's really is an issue, why haven't she heard anything?
"That's why we have to return, we'll have a better understanding once we saw it by ourselves." Aether answered, his hand still remained in it's place.
Lumine was conflicted, she wants to remain in Inazuma for a bit longer, to spend her times with Ei and her friends again. But the Aether in front of her right now is not his usual calm and relaxed self, Aether rarely ever gets serious unless if there was a dire situation, in short, whatever happening in Khaenri'ah right now must be serious if it's manage to make Aether acted not like his usual self.
At least, after the problems have been dealt with, she could simply came back here, right?
"Okay." Lumine nodded, finally take Aether's hand with hers. "Let's not waste time then, let's go." Aether nodded.
Golden glow appeared around the twins' body as they prepared to leave. Ei who watched as they were about to leave quickly stand up.
"You're leaving?" Ei asked, there was something in her voice that makes it sounded like she was sad at the aspect of Lumine leaving her.
"I'm afraid I have to. Thanks for the last few days Ei, it was really fun." Lumine nodded, looking at Ei with a small smile.
Ei clenched her fist upon hearing that, with Lumine failed to notice it. "Will you ever come back?" Ei asked again, her voice sounded hopeful.
Lumine think about it for a second, and eventually nods her head. "Of course! Once whatever the problem in Khaenri'ah has been solved, I will immediately return back here, I did promise to teach you how to cook after all." Lumine said with a chuckle at the end.
Ei went silent for a few seconds before nodding her head. "Alright, it's a promise then." She said with a smile.
"So, you're the Electro Archon, huh? Or should I say, her body double." Aether muttered out loud causing Ei to look at him. "The Tsaritsa had told me many things about you. Before I leave, I wanted to thank you for taking care of my little sister while I'm gone, and also for being her friend."
"Of course, it's my pleasure." Ei nodded.
"Bye everyone, I'll see you again later." Lumine waved her hand to both Saiguu and Chiyo who waved their hands back in return and telling her to have a safe journey.
With all said and done, the golden glow covered the twins' entire body before the two of them take off into the sky with their hands still holding into one another. And then, just like a shooting star, the twins flied away into the distance at high speed until the golden glows of their bodies no longer visible.
Ei sighed as she put a hand on her chest, Lumine's departure has somehow makes her heart ache a little with a feeling that she cannot describe, it's almost feels like back then during the day whem she lost Sasayuri, but Ei refused to let the feeling sink in, trying to convince herself that Lumine are going to be okay and that she will keep her promise of returning back here after whatever happens in the godless nation have been dealt with.
The picnic felt hollow now that Lumine is no longer here, but the three would continue to spend quality time with each other nonetheless.
Eventually day turned into night, Ei returned back to her home in Tenshukaku, and once she arrived there, she was surprised to find Makoto was in the living room. "Makoto, I'm home."
No response, Makoto just stands there almost emotionless even after Ei greeted her and slowly approaching her from behind.
"Makoto? What's wrong?" As Ei approached her twin sister, Makoto slowly turned around to look at Ei, her eyes are filled with conflicting emotions that Ei cannot describe.
"Sister?"
"Celestia has called me..."
The sky was red as blood, dark shadows covered the entire land, cities are burning in the distance, and the sounds of people screaming and begging for help filled the air.
Surrounded by hundreds of dead bodies, with a pool of fresh blood beneath her feet, Ei fell into her knees as she cradled the unmoving body of her dead twin sister.
"Makoto! Wake up! Please wake up!" Ei screamed as loudly as possible, but it all fell into deaf ears.
She knew that it was futile, that she'll just going to waste her remaining energy for even trying to waking up an already dead person, but her couldn't think of any rational thoughts right now, not after she witnessed the loss of everything that she holds dear.
"Please don't go! Don't leave me alone! Please wake up... I'm begging you..."
In the end, she could only starts crying as she pulled her sister's cold body closer into hers.
Everything is gone. Saiguu had mysteriously disappeared into nothing, Chiyo had been possessed by the evils that she herself had swore to destroy and now has gone mad because of it and even turned her blade against the very friend she wants to protect. And lastly, Lumine was nowhere to be seen, is she dead? Did Celestia killed her? Or did she leaved this world behind? Leaving her behind, in this cruel and unforgiving world?
Why?
Why did you leave me behind?
Why would you break our promise?
Silence.
Complete silence are surrounding her as she continues to meditate.
Five Hundreds years have passed ever since that day, everything had drastically changed since then.
Khaenri'ah had been destroyed by the gods of Celestia, it's entire civilization had been burned to the ground, leaving nothing behind.
The seven nations had been made warried due to what happened, people's faith to their respective Archons had been shaken with both fear and disgust of what they have done during the Cataclysm, some rebellion even appeared because of it, but managed to get subdued quickly. But as time passed however, people eventually forgot what's happened and quickly returned back to their normal daily lives just like before the day of disaster happened.
For Ei herself, the loss of everything had changed her completely. Now that Makoto, the true Raiden Shogun is gone, Ei was forced to take her sister's place despite of her utter disgust for being ascended to the throne of the gods in Celestia, the one and only being who responsible for taking her loved ones in the first place.
Nonetheless, the People of Inazuma cannot live without a god to guide them, as it would likely resulted with the same kind of tragedy that befall Khaenri'ah. Ei cared much about her people, and she didn't want them to suffer like she just saw five hundreds years ago, at the same time however, Ei refused to become a pawn for Celestia to control, just like what her sister is back then.
That's why she built a puppet with the exact appearance as her, to act as her replica in ruling Inazuma and taking care of all of it's affair, while Ei herself has sealed her entire being into the sword Musou no Hitotachi which once belonged to Makoto, acting as symbol of everlasting peace in Inazuma, to continue meditate for the rest of eternity.
Eternity, that is the answer Ei has come up with after witnessing the tragedy.
Only with eternity, people would stopped losing the ones they loved again.
Only with eternity, Inazuma would continue to prosper without failing again.
Only with eternity, in this desolate place, forever alone without anyone to interrupt her, Ei would never feel any suffering of losing someone again.
It has been a full year ever since the puppet Raiden Shogun had announced the Sakoku Decree to make Inazuma a closed nation. It's also been a year ever since she announced the Vision hunt decree.
Visions are blessings from heaven given to humanity, many people mistook it as a way for an Archon to acknowledge a human's existence in the world. But the truth it, visions are nothing more but a trap given by Celestia.
With visions, even the weakest of all people could become the strongest with given time and training. And with great power comes great ambitions.
Ambitions, the great enemy of her eternity. With great ambitions, people would continue to pursue their dreams and aspirations, doing all they can to make it happen. Little did they know, doing such thing would also cost them more suffering and loss.
That's why she needs to stop them, with the Vision hunt decree being the only way.
A total of ninety nine vision has been captured, and today, thanks to the puppet shogun's design to immediately sent any information of what currently happening outside directly into Ei's mind, a ceremony was about to held outside of Tenshukaku. Apparently, the shogunate army managed to capture a vision wielder whose vision would mark the 100th milestone of all the captured vision from within a year ever since the decree had been announced.
With the man being held down by the guards, and his hands are tied behind his back. The puppet Shogun easily took the the vision away from him.
But before the vision could reach the opened palm of the Shogun something catches the vision first, or to be accurate, someone.
Ei's eyebrow twitched slightly, outside of the Plane of Euthymia, she could feel a familiar presence that once belonged to someone, it was really faint and almost unnoticeable, but this presence... Where have she seen it before?
Not only that, even the puppet Shogun visibly surprised upon seeing or feeling that presence.
Ei's curiosity gets the better of her when the said presence take down the guards that present during the ceremony, before running towards the downed man and reattached the vision back to his hips.
And so, Ei telepathically commanded her puppet to engage the mysterious person. Summoning the Mosou no Hitotachi, the sword that Makoto used as symbol of peace, and now used by Ei as a symbol of power and everlasting reign over humanity, the puppet Shogun opens the portal to the Plane of Euthymia that sucked in the mysterious person into her personal realm.
Once the person landed on the sandy ground of her realm, and their appearance are fully revealed, Ei's eyes are wide open with shock, as she stare into a now revealed girl with familiar white dress and golden colored hair and eyes.
"Lumine..."