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In Sumeru, the day was long and the night was short.
Perhaps it was an illusion created by a mixture of humid air and intense sunlight during the day, or because of how breezy it was at dusk, lulling tired body to slumber and blowing dreams like glitter sand into consciousness. A fatamorgana, the mirage of Sumeru, as said by locals. One thousand and one night phenomena, as outlander would call it. Both sounded like a fitting name for Sumeru, although no one ever made a big deal over it.
For Lumine, however, fatamorgana meant the day was long and the night was longer in Sumeru.
Maybe it was because she kept having things to be done during the day while the nights were spent in the archive; reading books and records, papers and theories, anything about—or at least mentioning—Khaenri’ah, the Abyss, Cataclysm. Something that could maybe, hopefully, give her a lead to the truth about her brother. Something like things her brother had done for Teyvat in the past or so.
Sumeru, the land of knowledge and scholars, must have one or two records about that. Lumine believed that and staked her hopes high at this one. But five days and four nights had passed, a thousand books and piles of papers were read, and nothing gave her any clue. It highkey frustrated her, but she lowkey enjoyed things she had read thus far. Still, no matter how learning new things was good for her—and apparently Very Boring for Paimon—Lumine was making no progress. She had been walking around for five days without actually reaching her goal.
It exhausted her.
A yawn escaped Lumine’s lips as she flipped the page of a book while Paimon snored quietly in her lap. Her sense of time was distorted at night, moreover when the subject was supposed to be closely related to the Abyss, but it ended up explaining entirely something else.
“Then why put it in the Abyss section when you’re not even explaining about it, author,” she grumbled lowly as she closed the book and reached for another one. Lumine examined the book closely, aureate orbs twinkling with a tinge of blue from the lamp as they eyed the title skeptically.
“I don’t believe you,” she said to the ‘Lords of the Abyss and Country of the Ancestors’ book while flipping it open, skipping to its table content. Another flip and jump into the page mentioning ‘City in Ruins’, then Lumine sighed, “Should’ve listened to my gut feeling.”
Perhaps it was because she still latched on the tiniest sliver of hope that she was feeling disappointed. However, it was not as if she could protest and demand to be able to access the classified ones. Lumine was a mere outlander and being able to read books and papers to this extent was a blessing already.
Lumine stretched in her chair and glanced down, wondering why Paimon did not just return to their inn if all she did here was sleep, before giving herself a glance to the corner a distance away.
Haitham was seated at the corner of the library, with bookshelves towering behind and beside him and a fluorescent lamp illuminating a sharp profile. A small frown graced focused visage with eyes glinting faint blue from the light. The flip of pages he made was soundless as if he had been trained not to. Ashen hair fell across emerald eyes that were looking at the new page with more interest than previously.
“Stuck again, Miss Lumine?”
Lumine pinched the bridge of her nose, finding his neutral tone somewhat hinting with amusement even though he barely made any expression at all.
“I’m going in circles,” she admitted, sighing at the stacking book at one side. “Not that they’re not interesting. It’s just… they’re lacking things I’m searching for.”
He barely lifted his eyes from whatever was written on that page, but a soft hum replied her comfortingly. “Take your time, traveler.”
“I am taking my time,” Lumine reached for another book, not minding the title, and just flipped it open right to the table content. She grimaced at the lack of it. “But maybe I’m just not patient enough for this.”
The man said nothing to it and the only thing replying to her was the sound of flipping pages. As Lumine skimmed the content of the book, she reminisced the time when Aether told her how they still had plenty, enough time. Their time to be together after Teyvat, she supposed. But it did not necessarily mean that she could be patient to be away from him.
The last vision she saw about him convinced her that the more she chased after him, the further he went away. They had different goals here in Teyvat and it showed.
“Where’s bard’s songs and tales when you need it the most,” she whispered.
The clock hanging on a wall showed 2 a.m. Although Lumine felt exhausted from all the work she did at day and from reading countless words written with various handwriting—bless people with neat handwriting—sleep never came until the clock struck 3. Paimon had been sleeptalking about wanting to eat some dishes from the Bazaar for the last thirty minutes and Lumine’s eyes had started to burn. In the end, she closed the book after making a note about where she last read.
“Done already?” Haitham finally took his eyes off the book to look at her.
“Mm-hm. It’s almost dawn and I have to meet someone at 9 so maybe I need to get some rest first,” she nodded while lifting Paimon from her lap and carrying her, positioning her head on small shoulders. “But is it really okay to leave this spot like this? I could tidy it up first before leaving.”
Meaning books and records piling on the table, and papers filled with her own writing scattered all over. It was far messier this time compared to the last four days prior.
“It’s good,” he replied and stood from his chair to approach her, studying the way she handled the white-haired sleeping fairy with ease.
“Well,” Lumine turned to him, smiling with a hint of exhaustion visible within the golden eyes. “Thank you for accompanying me tonight as well, Haitham. I’ll see you next night again?”
A wordless nod was all he replied to her before she walked away. Emerald gaze locked to the small retreating back before it fell to the messy table, scoured the piling books and papers with neat handwriting marked with lines and circles, question marks and asterisks. A hand rested on the edge of the table while the other reached for one of her papers littered with question marks the most to give it a quick read. For someone who looked far more experienced on the battlefield, he mused with interest, she did a decent work here.
The four nights—now five—she had spent in the archive was not all a waste, in his opinion. The female traveler managed to extract the information from various sources and made several statements, if not theories, that he had never thought of previously. Maybe it was because she had seen more of Teyvat than he did; knowledge about the three nations she had visited previously was all stored in her memory.
She was interesting.
Haitham placed the paper back to where he took it and walked over to his table to get the book and fluorescent lamp before locking the archive. A belated thought came to him as he made his way back that perhaps he should have offered his company until she reached the inn where she stayed.
Not that it was dangerous or she could not fight for herself. It was just that he found her company to be good. Enjoyable.
Next time.
The long night in Sumeru finally came to a close with thin light ribbons cracking the darkness.
Lumine said she would meet him again later, but Haitham certainly did not expect to meet her during the day at this place.
Sunlight drifted into the damp ground, filtered by vibrant green, giant pond leaves, and refracted into something white and golden. Glimmers of pond water shifted constantly and gentle trickling water noise pulled an urge to soak in the refreshing water to the surface. Haitham watched as the girl he was supposed to meet at night rested on a rock nearby under the cool shade of a giant pond leaf, with slender legs dipped in the water and golden eyes watching her travel companion floating in the water.
The scene was… indescribable. Not… bad, but it did nudge him with something like a squeeze to his chest. Although it lasted only for a brief second, the impact stayed in the prolonged minutes where he stood there, almost rooted to the ground. He pulled himself together while wondering why something felt like it was swelling in his chest.
“Miss Lumine?”
Golden hair swayed with the wind as the girl in question turned to him, surprise adorned wide eyes that blinked a couple before realization seemed to hit her.
“Haitham?” She questioned, tone raised by a bar in surprise before lips pulled into a small smile. “What are you doing here?”
That should be his line because this morning, he heard from the grandma next door that an outlander with golden hair was off to help Oldman Malik with something. Probably collecting herbal plants or cleaning his garden. The last time he heard the grandma was grumbling about how it used to be a beautiful garden now had reduced to a field of wild grass.
Now to think of it, this pond was close to the old man's house.
“I’m…” what was he doing here, again? “going to train.”
Right. The open field next to the pond was where he was heading. Not the pond, no. And he could have skipped past it like he always did. But today his legs brought him there for no apparent reason.
“Train?” Lumine turned around, dragging up her dress to show more of her white skin that Haitham had to turn away immediately. “Can I join you?”
He pushed the replaying white skin in his mind away—improper thoughts, Haitham—and nodded at her stiffly. A splashing sound was heard along with the fairy’s shrill voice “Paimon will be here!”, mostly aimed at the girl. Haitham walked away from the pond and into the clearing, not noticing the way Lumine peered at him rather curiously.
“So, want to spar?” She asked the moment they reached the clearing, with him preparing his sword. “No vision involved.”
“Pure strength,” he considered. “Are you sure?”
Across him, Lumine smiled and readied her sword. She charged at him which he quickly blocked. It was quite a hard blow.
“No need to hold back, Haitham.”
This brought a smile to his face, a smirk at the playful yet fierce glint inside those pooling melted gold. The leap and land she made to avoid his blade were graceful, while her offense was sharp and straightforward. In raw strength, Haitham could undoubtedly say that his strength bested hers. But in terms of agility, she was certainly a lot better.
This made him wonder about the rumor that the traveler could resonate with various visions. The green glow around her dress indicated dendro vision was in use, and although Haitham had seen her using her dendro vision by chance, he wondered how strong it would be if she went all out and used all visions that had resonated with her thus far.
A cool blade grazed his arm. Lumine stared into his eyes, golden met emerald, and said, “Focus, Haitham, or I might sweep the ground with you.”
Haitham clicked his tongue from rising amusement. “I’d like to see you try.”
Sharp metals clanging against each other filled the clearing as the sunlight fell in beams of light around them. The cool breeze made everything humid. The sun, albeit covered by lush trees around them, made it a lot hotter than it used to. Sweats formed and fell, making his grip on the sword handle unstable. If this was his condition, then he could safely say the same applied to Lumine.
Her stamina was impressive. She kept on taking the offensive after falling into a defensive stance in a split second. But the once hard blow had weakened, most probably from building fatigue, and he supposed he should end things quickly before it got ugly.
So he tightened his grip on his sword and watched Lumine dashing toward him with eyes filled with determination to win. A horizontal slash had him crouching low and the next diagonal one made him roll to the side. A swipe of his leg against hers made her stumble, losing her balance then fell to her side. Haitham used the chance to stab his sword to the ground next to her head, preventing her to roll away, and positioned himself atop her in half a straddle.
“Giving up?” He asked, only to receive a fist from her.
“Not yet,” Lumine replied, letting go of her sword to throw another punch at his stomach. It was easily got caught by his hand and he immediately pinned both her hands above her head.
“A swordsman fights better with his sword,” he said calmly amidst heavy gulps of air. “You shouldn’t have let go of your sword.”
The girl beneath him let out a laugh. “I suppose so. This is my loss, then.”
A bead of sweat dripped from his jaw to Lumine’s cheek, which he quickly swiped away with his thumb, muttering a hurried apology. The sudden awareness of their position made him freeze, even more so when his hand made no attempt to move from her cheek as he gazed into her. Flushed red face with a heaving chest, sweat formed and fell from her forehead, and golden strands of hair were in a disarray.
Haitham immediately let go of her hands that he pinned above and tried to move away from her, only to be frozen once again when slender fingers brushed away his hair that clung to his damp forehead. Emerald eyes took in the slowly formed smile and widened slightly as her hand tucked his hair behind the ears.
“Thank you for the spar, Haitham,” she said, voice quiet that barely broke whatever atmosphere they were in.
“It’s good to train your raw skills,” he replied automatically, partly because he could not quite understand why his heart was beating as if they were still sparring. “Relying on your vision too much can be a liability.”
That much was true and he knew she packed brawl and much as brain within her. Lumine could be a deadly opponent if she wanted to, but kindness seemed to be engraved deep in her that the possibility barely crossed her mind. Haitham now knew why the tales of the traveler defeating a dragon, an ancient god, and even facing the Electro Archon herself were always a popular topic amongst researchers returning from abroad. It was—
Oh.
He realized it as he moved away to regain their distance, with Lumine dusting away dirt from white dress and his eyes lingered on her before flicking away, that fascinating was the word he had been looking for since he stumbled into her. It was also the very reason why his heart was beating so quick now despite the shifting atmosphere and proper space stood between them.
The small fairy came to them in a hurry, saying that both better go now if they did not want to miss the next commission in the outskirts of the city. Lumine gave him a brief yet polite farewell, not forgetting to say that she would meet him again later. Maybe it was the bright dress or her golden hair, but Haitham found himself unable to look away as her figure retreated. When she was out of sight, only then he pulled out his sword from the ground, flicking it off, then walked away to the opposite direction.
The interest he had in her had slowly turned into an attraction.
The night was young when Lumine knocked on the door leading into the archive. A soft “Come in” replied it and she pushed open the door.
Standing a distance away from the door was Haitham, dressed in casual wear that Lumine always saw every night spent there. The quiet glow from the fluorescent lamp cast a gentle blue hue on his skin, making a sharp impression softer and calm demeanor a lot more approachable. Lumine always wondered why Paimon was making a fuss over him, saying how he looked menacing and possibly evil because of his frown and insisted on accompanying Lumine in the archive.
But tonight, Paimon stayed in their inn after she made a complaint about how she would not carry Paimon back to their inn again if all she did there was sleep.
The same thing was told to the man, who let out a small, low chuckle that was completely beyond Lumine’s expectation. Haitham was quiet, a little bit cold at times, but it was actually not all he was. He just did not show it much through his words and actions. The laugh, however, was a first for her. It made her self-conscious that they were alone here.
A rush of warmth nestled over her. But Lumine was quick to banish such thought the moment they reached to table she used since five days ago. Haitham really kept things the way she left it be last night, nothing amiss but some scrolls were increasing. She looked at him in question, but the man either ignored it or was already too engrossed with his reading material.
Well, I’ll thank him later.
The fatamorgana started. The notes she took started to feel like a futile attempt and all things she had read so far made her sick. There were still plenty of reading materials here in the archive, but Lumine was one person with only so much reading ability and memory capacity. Everything started to blur when a soft tap on her shoulders made her jolt.
Standing next to her was Haitham, face twisted in a deeper frown—one might mistake him for being angry—who asked, “Are you okay?”
Lumine looked at him and worked half a smile. She let go of the book and leaned back on the chair.
“I wish I was,” she sighed heavily. “Reading can be tiring, huh?”
“You've been working so hard,” he said without further elaboration. Lumine took it as a sign to get some rest from him and complied, covering her eyes with the back of her hand as her head rested on the top side of the chair.
The hand retreated, taking its warmth from her. There was a pang of disappointment swelling in her, then, but the sound of the chair against the floor made her peek through her fingers. Haitham made his seat across her, seeming not to mind the way the table was scattered with everything. Another sigh escaped her before Lumine straightened her back and looked at him.
“I’ve always been curious,” she started. Her arms folded on the table and she leaned in as if trying to whisper secrets. “Why did you let me into the archive?”
Lumine knew there was a library in Sumeru, one that was open for the citizens, even for the outlanders as long as they had the permit or were able to show their authentic identity. But not the archive, no. The archive was filled with historical records that were deemed far too valuable to be shown and lent to the citizens. Officials could access them, but even researchers from Academia needed a recommendation letter to be granted limited access.
Taking all that into consideration, Lumine was practically no one, an outlander without any proper identity. The only reason why she could access it was mere generosity from Haitham, who had the authority regarding the archive.
Even so, he had no reason to grant the access to her. Looking from his point of view, Lumine posed more harm, and the risk of her stealing valuable information to exploit them was high. But he granted her free access. That, with one condition that he had to accompany her throughout her visit there.
The man looked away from his book, closed it without sound, and looked at her.
“You’ve done nothing but help the citizens with their problem. As a citizen of Sumeru, I’m obliged to return the favor.”
The explanation was brief and concise, logical, and without any holes. Still, something did not sit right with that reasoning. It was, what to say, too simple for something potentially risky for a nation. But when Lumine told him, all he replied to her was, “I’ll take the responsibility. After all, it’s my duty to keep the archive safe.”
So basically, he was really giving her access because he wanted to return the favor.
“But I’m being paid by everyone who commissioned me, though?” Lumine tried to reason.
Haitham only smiled. Lumine then decided it was final and she did not need to ask further. Knowing how careful he was, this decision must have been thought thoroughly.
“I took a look at your notes the other night after you returned. I hope you didn’t mind,” Haitham started after a beat of silence passed, shifting the topic. “The topic of your research is interesting.”
Well, Lumine wished she was researching and not actually trying to dig deeper into Teyvat’s history and progressions. She glanced down at her notes and then back at him. “It’s not much and everything is still uncertain. The statements I write, I mean,” she said. “I guess not many researchers thought of these things as interesting and maybe too dangerous and time-consuming for genuine research.”
Because it was true. Things like the Archons, the Abyss, and the fall of Khaenri’ah left the world barely any records. Things that was existing now were merely the product of what happened in the past and did not necessarily show or explained the process. The oldest record she had found so far was dated around 300 years ago while the fall of Khaenri’ah was somewhere 500 years ago, and some of the unknown records mentioning it were incomplete.
“The Archons might know the answer,” Haitham murmured, “but the question is whether they’re willing to share such information for the sake of just one person.”
It was another dead end she had faced with the Geo Archon. Venti only shared bits of it, implications of a vision of the battle, while Ei was only there after the worst of the fight. The current Dendro Archon, the Lesser Lord Kusanali, was said to rose into the position 500 years ago, right after the death of the Dendro Archon during Cataclysm. She might not know much about it too.
In the end, Lumine could only sigh in defeat. “I don’t know. It’s always been a tough thing to find out. At the end of the day, it’s just me and how persistent I am with this.”
“Not relying on gods,” he said in a low voice, “is a good choice.”
This picked up her curiosity as much as her confusion. “Why?”
“Gods and humans should have equal status. That way, they can help each other to survive without putting one on a pedestal,” he explained. “Gods are seen as a supreme force, but when they’re high up on their seats, will the voices of humans reach them and be heard?”
Probably not. But maybe a responsible god—Archon—would. Yet her past experience proved the otherwise; Venti with his freedom, Zhongli leaving the godhood, and Ei isolating herself. Would the Lesser Lord Kusanali act differently?
“You said a similar thing today,” Lumine recounted, “that you shouldn’t rely too much on your vision. Is this the reason why?”
Haitham with a dendro vision granted by Kusanali and Lumine, by pure chance, was able to resonate with the same vision. His ideal was a contrast with hers, and thus she said, “Visions mean strength. If it makes me stronger, then I’m going to use it as long as I’m in this world.”
Because Lumine was a person with a mission. She was not going to be a hypocrite by agreeing to him because if using visions could bring her closer to Aether, then so be it. She was not a mere adventurer as how the adventurer guild formally introduced her, but maybe Haitham did not need to know about this. Not yet.
“Understandable,” he nodded; again, doing beyond her expectation. “As long as the greed doesn’t consume you, having power is always a good thing.”
Lumine smiled at him. Again, Haitham broke her impression of him. The openness he showed her right now was nothing she had seen during the first time she met him; cold and detached, akin to a lone wolf looking at a pack from a distance away. This was the reason why Lumine asked his reason for accepting her in the archive and now she knew well why.
Wise men were rare gems, and next to Zhongli, Haitham was one fine emerald.
Could it be, just like Zhongli, he was an Archon in incognito?
“Power came with responsibilities. Having more power doesn’t mean doing things the way you like. It means utilizing the said power for a greater good, to help each other survive and I,” he paused briefly to look at her, viridian eyes twinkling in the low light, “have come to find such quality in you.”
This made her look down at her notes to mutter, “A god, huh? How so?”
Going by his previous statement, was it because she often helped people? But Lumine did that with mora in mind so she could not say her intentions were all pure. A god should not seek material pleasure while Lumine was—with the addition of Paimon’s preference for mora—practically money-oriented. Not that she wanted to be rich, but just enough so she could survive daily and continue her journey.
A hand brushed golden bangs before Lumine could realize it, reaching for the twin flowers glowing faint green that marked dendro element. Across her, Haitham smiled almost fondly at her and it took all of her not to shy away from the touch because it was surprisingly—
Calming.
Voice sailed like a gentle sway of leaf against the wind. A hint of amusement rode it as if her question was one with more than an obvious answer. “The fact that you can utilize various elemental energy despite not being granted a vision is enough proof for me.”
Lumine returned the smile. “Maybe I’m just a rare case. After all, what is a god without their people.”
Even if Lumine was a god, her people were no more; ceased to exist a long time ago along with her world. And the moment god lost their people, they were nothing but humans. Lumine had been walking on the same ground as the humans in Teyvat for almost two years. She could positively say she was no different from them.
“People with vision are those with powers,” Lumine added, “so does that make you a god, too, Haitham?”
Haitham said nothing, but the gleam in vibrant eyes was enough for her. His hand let go of golden hair and reached for her hand. The sound of a chair against the floor filled the silence as he stood. An arm hovered across the table with Haitham bowed to press his forehead to the back of her hand before kissing the exposed skin of her fingers.
“Interesting, Miss Lumine,” he whispered, eyes locked with hers as lips hovered over her fingers. “I’ve always wondered what is contained within your mind. A god’s mind.”
“I can guarantee you that I’m a human,” she said, amused at his persistence while noticing how he evaded her question rather smoothly.
“You could be a goddess.”
Lumine bit her tongue, holding back a spontaneous reply before giving up and hoping that Haitham could take a joke, “Haitham, are you flirting with me?”
The lips that touched her fingers once again were shaped like a crescent moon. Mesmerizing eyes with long lashes fluttering close, hiding vibrant irises that Lumine had come to like. When pale eyelids were pulled open, Lumine felt the burn both from his gaze and the place where he kissed her.
“I’m glad that you noticed it, Miss Lumine.”