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Erosion.
That was what Zhongli constantly spoke of to Lumine – how time would even erase someone as immortal as Zhongli. Yet, Lumine would never have thought she would be the witness to Zhongli’s erosion or that she would be the cause of it.
“Zhongli-sensei!”
Lumine’s voice cracked as Zhongli took yet another hit from the physical body of the one they call ‘The Heavenly Principles’. No matter how powerful or immortal Zhongli was, when faced with an even higher being like ‘The Heavenly Principles, he didn’t stand a chance.
Lumine leaned against her blade, her brother lying against the wall, battered, bruised and unconscious. The Abyss Prince was what the unknown god (or rather, primordial being) had been aiming for; to break the Prince was to shatter the Abyss.
“Lumine, stay back!” Zhongli commanded.
But Lumine had never been the best at following orders, especially when someone she cares about was getting hurt. Brandishing her sword once more, she stood in front of Zhongli, readying herself for their next attack, the elements at her command.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll protect both you and Aether.”
A fiery determination burned within her golden iris. Her small stature contrasted her strength. Zhongli always wondered if her strength stems from having traversed many worlds or if it was from her unwavering willpower and kindness. Perhaps, it was both. For someone so small, she could carry the weight of the world on her shoulders and still be alright.
Zhongli’s chest tightened, swelling with an emotion he thought that he would no longer feel, cast away together with his naivety during the Archon War.
“Lumine,” Zhongli called, his deep voice gentle and sweet.
It made Lumine’s breath hitch in her throat. Her name sounded so different when he called her, anchoring her and giving her reassurance. Only Zhongli would have such an effect on her.
When the Geo Archon called her name, she had to strengthen her will to not immediately turn to him and it had been the right choice. The god in front of them threw out yet another of that nightmarish cube at them. Zhongli reacted quickly, conjuring his shield up as soon as Lumine deflected them off and parried away from the danger, protecting Aether from the same onyx cube that separated them.
Time was running short. Any more fighting and they would lose.
An idea started forming in her head, on how to defeat the god – or rather, how to protect the people she loved.
It had to be now.
Lumine grabbed Zhongli by his arm, pulling him closer to Aether. The cryo shield she put up wouldn’t last long.
“Sensei, listen to me. I can fight her off but I need you to protect my brother. If it’s you, I know you can do it,” Lumine spoke.
“What are you planning?” Zhongli shot back. A strange anxiety creeped into his heart and he’s learnt to always trust his gut feelings. It made him tighten her grip around Lumine’s wrist, not letting her go until she explained herself.
“Aether is my twin and when I touched him, I learnt how to open a portal to the Abyss.” Zhongli’s eyes widened. “I’ll push her in.”
“What guarantee do you have that you won’t fall in with her?” Silence and it was all Zhongli needed to voice his protest. “I won’t allow you to carry through such a dangerous plan!”
For the first time, Lumine heard him raise his voice and it almost left her speechless. But she scowled in return, snapping back at him. “I’m not asking for your permission! I said I’m doing it! That’s why I’m asking you to protect Aether!”
“The Abyss is not a place that mortals can survive! If you fell in with her, you’d have to fend off both the god and the beasts that lurk within! You will die!”
“If I don’t do this, all of us will die!” Lumine yelled, taking Zhongli aback. It was not her statement that made him silent, it was her tears. Shoulders shaking and tears rolling down her delicate face. “I don’t want to lose you or my brother…”
“Lumine…”
Lumine rubbed away her tears, her determination unwavering. “Ei fought the Shogun for 500 years to come out victorious. Be it five hundred or a thousand, I will come out victorious.”
Her strength was dazzling and Zhongli loved her for that. But still…
“Still Lumine, I can’t allow it,” Zhongli replied.
Before Lumine could protest, Zhongli cupped her face and leaned down, their lips pressed together. Her lips tasted like sweet flowers, soft as he had thought them to be. The kiss had Lumine’s eyes growing wide, her scalp tingling.
Why? Why was Zhongli kissing her?
Even when Zhongli pulled away, she found herself almost reluctant, her lips following his. “Why?” Lumine whispered.
“Because I had missed my chance many times in the past.”
The unease crept into her heart as her pulse started to speed up. “Sensei…”
The trembling in her voice nearly made Zhongli pull her in for another kiss but he stopped himself, or else he would lose his will to carry out his plan. “Lumine, one day, in another life, in another world, I hope that we shall meet again. And when we do, I want to tell you about these feelings of mine.”
“Zhongli-sensei? What are you saying?” Something wasn’t right. The alarms were blaring in Lumine’s head.
Zhongli raised his hand, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “Please forgive me, Lumine.”
Zhongli pushed her back next to her brother and with both hands, conjured a shield surrounding the both of them. A light shone from his hand as he turned away, his brown suit replaced with a long white coat.
Lumine recognized his outfit as how the geo statue portrayed him in the past. His arms were dark brown with gold decoration running up to his shoulder, disappearing under his white coat.
“Zhongli-sensei! Stop!”
A mere half-turn revealed his loving yet reassuring smile. His skin was cracking, like an old pottery being run down from the elements of nature, to break at any given time if it was used at all. The crack spread up his face, past his eyes.
Erosion.
Lumine knew the moment she saw it.
“Thank you, Lumine.”
Lumine screamed out Zhongli’s name, yelled out what she used to call him, to stop whatever he was planning. With whatever strength she had, she knocked and bashed against the shield. This shield was much stronger than any shields Zhongli had conjured to protect them with. It was meant not only to keep things out but also to keep things in. Even when she had lost her strength to carry her sword, she used her fist to try and knock down the shield. Her hand was bruised and raw from her efforts but she couldn’t feel the pain at all.
Coughing and crying as the geo archon turned his back on her and a thousand rock spears descended from the sky. She cried so hard, heaving as she continued to call out Zhongli. Her crying woke Aether up. Despite his grogginess and confusion, he had immediately rushed to his sister’s side and pulled her into an embrace, holding her back from trying to hurt herself anymore than this.
Without having said anything, Aether could guess what happened. Zhongli was going to unleash his full power against ‘The Heavenly Principles’. The oldest of the Archons was going to end it, once and for all.
A god of war – Aether finally understood why he would be called that.
There was nothing left of even the platform where the two gods battled, only a small space where Zhongli had stood. The only safe place was where the twins were at, protected with the strongest of shields.
Soon, the shield disappeared and Lumine pushed her brother off. Taking flight with her wings, she flew over to that small platform where only Zhongli’s vision remained. The amber glow radiated in her palms, like a comforting warmth that would engulf her if she kept it close.
Archons need not Visions and the one in her hands was a fake.
Yet, it was the only thing remaining of him.
Aether flew next to her, his heart feeling her pain. Being twins, he could feel her emotions and it felt like a knife had been brought down his heart over and over again. It left him weak.
With what he thought was a reassuring hand on her shoulder made Lumine jump into Aether’s arms, burying her face into his shoulders and arms wounding around his neck. She sobbed wretchedly, body shaking from her cries, her screams deafening.
Her grief made Aether want to cry but as her brother, he had to be strong. One of them had to be while the other was weak.
He could only return her embrace and let her sister cry to her broken hearts content.
How he would fix this world now that the Heavenly Principles was gone – that would be a thought for another time. Now, his sister needs him.
******** ********
The bustling city was drowned out by the music blaring from her earphones. Lumine’s sweater kept her warm as she strolled down the busy street. Her bag hung from her shoulder, a rectangular gold and brown keychain dangling from it. If one stared hard enough, the keychain would almost seem to glow mysteriously.
The gentle music of the flute and erhu blended well together, creating a melodious and calming sound. It reminded Lumine much of a certain man.
After Zhongli had defeated the Heavenly Principles, he had gone missing without a trace. She and Aether became the new gods, leading the archons and people to a better world. Once they deemed to have done their jobs as best as they could, the two of them went into a deep slumber, in a different realm.
Aether and Lumine each had their gem, similar to that of the star. They laid in their gems and vowed to wake the other once they awakened.
Thus, they slept. They slept for thousands of years and humanity had made many advancements since then. The gems kept them up to date to their developments in the form of dreams.
But sometimes, Lumine would dream of Zhongli; the times they shared in their last life, the last kiss they parted and their tragic goodbye.
Regret would make her tear up even as she slept; memories of the belated geo archon left a bittersweet taste in her mouth. So long has passed but she still remembers how tenderly Zhongli had kissed her before he unleashed his full power upon the unknown god.
A call came in, interrupting the music coming into her ears.
“Hey, Lumine. Are you coming back for dinner?” Aether’s voice came through the phone.
“I’ll be there. But I’m going to stop by the music store first. The new album just dropped and I can’t wait to get it,” Lumine answered.
“The musician you’ve been crazy about? Didn’t you just buy it?”
“This is a collector’s special! There’s only a limited amount of it left, I have to get it!”
As the twins bantered, a young man bumped into her. “Ah, sorry,” Lumine apologized, shooting him a brief glance. He was much taller than her, his brown hair brushing past her face.
“It’s alright, Lumine.”
Lumine stopped in her tracks.
Noise buzzed around her – from Aether to the noisy streets and traffic, and yet the man’s voice was like a clear bell waking her from her nightmare. She would recognize this voice anywhere. Even if she could possibly be mistaken, she had to look.
Lumine turned back, hand still gripping her phone and people obscuring her view. Pedestrians cleared from her sight as though parting to allow her a glimpse of the man that called her.
A gentle smile, jaded features and brown hair with amber highlights, eyes as bright as gold.
“It can’t be…”
Like a spring bursting into appearance, her heart’s emotion overfilled and she found herself holding back tears.
“Lumine? Lumine? Are you listening?”
Aether’s voice – and everything other sounds – became a backdrop noise. All she could see and hear was the man in front of her.
“Zhongli-sensei?”
The man whose name was Zhongli smiled once more, even brighter than before.
“We finally meet again, Lumine,” he said. His words, his voice was like music to her ears. He held out his hand and Lumine took off from her spot, ignoring all the stares from strangers around her.
“Sensei!” Lumine jumped into his arms, wrapping hers around his chest, burying her face into them. It was a sheer relief to have Zhongli in her arms once more. She had waited for thousands of years and her patience had paid off.
“Lumine, I missed you dearly…” Was he crying?
Lumine could hear the tremble in his voice, just like how her voice shook when she answered him. “Zhongli-sensei… I missed you. All these years I knew you would come back to me.”
Zhongli broke the hug, taking in Lumine’s delicate features. She didn’t change much at all from his memories. She remained almost the same.
“I came here to fulfill my contract with you,” Zhongli spoke, brushing her bangs out of her face. “Please listen, Lumine.”
No words could express her anticipation, her anxiety, her joy. All these emotions came crashing into her like a wave in the ocean.
“I’m listening, Zhongli.”
Zhongli leant down as Lumine tipped her face up, standing on her tiptoes. The kiss was no longer as bittersweet as Lumine remembered but the softness didn’t change. She poured all her love into this one kiss as she knew that nothing in this world is permanent.
“Lumine,” Zhongli whispered when he broke the kiss, like a lovely sigh. “I love you.”
“Mn. I love you so, so much, Zhongli. Please promise me, don’t ever leave me again.”
“I promise.”