Chapter Text
Pitch black.
Her senses felt numb. Her eyelids felt heavy. Even though she tried her best to focus her strength, she was not able to move any muscle.
What happened? She did not know. She had no idea how she had ended up like this, nor how she could end it. All she knew was that she was trapped somewhere – only barely conscious.
The only thing she was aware of was the constant darkness that embedded her as a whole.
There has to be something else, was what she kept telling herself and even though she had lost her sense of time a long while ago, she was not willing to give up just yet.
Why am I here?
Again and again her consciousness kept drifting away. It took her quite some effort to pull her thoughts together, until a sudden sensation hit her senses: The darkness still enclosed her and her body and soul felt dull, yet she could not shake off the feeling that something outside had changed. At first it had only been a rough feeling but as the time went by and as she managed to recover her strength slowly but surely, the information’s intensity that leaked through to her senses increased.
At first she thought of it as a soft summer breeze tingling around her fingertips, but soon enough the soft breeze turned into a gust, turned into a gale and finally got accompanied by a rumble. The earth underneath her body began to shake. From above?
It felt like forever. The shaking had become constantly stronger. There has to be more!
She forced her senses to reach out – to grab anything they could – until finally some voices got mixed in. There were no words or even syllables or letters she was able to understand, yet she was absolutely certain: There had to be somebody out there.
The infinite darkness had sharpened her eyes, eager to find only the slightest hint of light somewhere above.
“L…-e”
She knew that voice. Since she first heard that voice, it had yet to leave her side, but still she was not able to remember its owner. Her thoughts danced around in her head while she tried to make use of the little information she had gotten, only resulting in a slight headache lingering in her temple.
Where am I? She still did not know.
Frustration occupied her mind. She was willing to force herself out but she did not get the slightest chance to do so.
Just when the shaking that still surrounded her body became stronger once again, her wandering eyes spotted a crack. The shell of darkness that had been wrapped around her had been cracked open. For the moment it only seemed like a small fissure but after the endless darkness she had to endure for what felt like eternity, her heart started to race and with all her might she put her strength into her right arm. She wanted to feel it, wanted to prove it to be true.
“Lu…-ne!”
The shaking intensified, causing the shell around her to cave in. Barely some seconds later the shaking stopped and in an instant warm air caressed her skin and as the dust settled, the outlines of a boy became clear.
“LUMINE!”His body was tense; his amber eyes were full of worry. A few strands of his otherwise thoroughly braided blonde hair had fallen into his face.
A relieved smile crossed her lips, when she finally recognised: There was no doubt it was him.
“Ae…-ther.”
Upon hearing her low but steady voice, some of the tension visibly left his body and he weaved a sigh of relief.
He held out his hand to her, which she gratefully accepted, to get her back on her feet.
Her head felt a bit dizzy at first and she was glad Aether stood right beside her to support her if she felt like stumbling.
“How do you feel? Are you hurt?”
She shook her head: “No, I’m… a bit dizzy… that’s all.” She tried to make a shaky step forward. “What happened?”
“We have to leave Teyvat… this place… this earth… as fast as possible.”
“Why? I mean… what’s wrong, Brother?”
“This world as a whole is a mess. Let’s hurry.”
Without giving his sister the chance to even think about an answer to give, he took her hand and dragged her along.
Only then did she notice the red sky above their heads, as well as the stifling warmth that had taken over the entire environment. A sea of flames spread in front of their eyes, ready to devour anything that crossed its way: A living nightmare.
Her motions came to an abrupt halt, forcing her to let go of her brother’s hand. Neither of her feet dared to move; her eyes wide open she scanned her surroundings in horror. The fingers of her right hand clenched into a tight fist, she grabbed the fabric of her clothing that was covering her chest.
War? But not just any war. Throughout her travels with her brother in which they already visited countless of different worlds, they had of course already come across the phenomenon of war. But this time, it was different. Heavy and destructive forces collided with one another, threaten to not just kill any enemy they could reach, but crushing the very ground beneath them – not able to differ between ally and foe.
“Lumine – QUICK!” Her brother’s voice yelling her name snapped her out of her own thoughts, just in time for her to dodge a massive rock that fell to the ground. Making use of their golden three-part wings, the siblings floated high across the battlefield.
“We got no time to lose: hurry!”
Lumine nodded, even though her stomach felt like it would start to wrench in pain any moment now.
As they increased their flying height, the screaming, and the crying: it all grew distant and dull.
This isn’t right, her mind kept repeating, No world’s people should suffer like this!
It was not long after the last desperate cry for help left her ears, when the two siblings set foot on a floor made of stone, far beyond human eyesight – high up in the sky. Lumine could not shake of the odd feeling this rather peaceful area left on her mind. Never would one suspect the world below being close to complete destruction at that very moment.
Just when they were about to leave this world called Teyvat behind, the air right in front of their eyes changed in both – colour and shape. Three diamonds in red blocked their path and before either of the two could bring their mind to think about an explanation, they froze upon the realisation that a tall yet slender figure had already passed through the portal that had just formed right in front if the sibling’s eyes. The unknown woman had her orange eyes narrowed on the two strangers in front of her; no easy to read emotion visible on her face.
“Outlanders, your journey ends here.” she said, her voice calm but firm. Her long white hair waved behind her head, as she changed the diamonds’ shape still visible behind her back into something Lumine was not quite sure whether she should call it a weapon or not.
“Wo are you?”
“The sustainer of heavenly principles. The arrogation of mankind ends now!”
While speaking, she formed a cube with her right hand, only for it to appear barely one second later beneath the area the two siblings had set foot on. In an instant they both managed to dodge away, spreading their wings again and summoning their swords out of pure willpower, ready to face the unexpected enemy.
In the blink of an eye, the strange woman summoned countless of brownish-red cubes, forming into different kind of strands which she could control freely and without any trouble.
It was not an easy task yet the siblings managed to dodge every single one of her attacks, getting ready to strike back. They already fought countless of battles together why there was no need for them to waste time thinking about tactics or strategies. They knew each other well enough to adjust their attacks, striking at the unknown god at exactly the same time. As they did, the white haired woman spared both of the two one single glance. Not even one second passed until two strands of cubes formed again, each of which was aiming for one sibling.
When Lumine noticed that something was off, it had already been too late. The brownish cubes had already made contact with her sword and were about to swallow it as a whole. There was no other option as to let go of her weapon, or else she would be swallowed, too.
The girl only narrowly escaped the cubes reaching for her and managed to push herself away.
“Aether, we-…” Her words got stuck in her throat. Aether, her beloved brother did not have the luck she had. At the same time the cubes had made contact with his sword, they already reached for his hands and once they got a hold of parts of his body – not minding it being a rather small part either – there was absolutely no way they would let go again.
“AETHER!”
Lumine could only watch in horror as the cubes kept covering more and more of her brother’s body and when they were finally able to swallow him as a whole, the cubes broke apart. One by one they merged into one another, creating a shiny cube lingering in the unknown woman’s hands.
Anger filled Lumine’s mind, her body tightened and her thoughts got corrupted by rage.
I have to get him back!
In an instant she flew behind the tall god’s back. Anger and rage might cause her body to move but she was not that big of a fool to forget that her weapon was gone. Instead of a weapon to use, there was only one thing left for her to do: She tried to ease up her mind and poured all her strength into her left palm, ready to unleash a raging thunderstorm that hit the god with all its power.
Lumine panted. Her raging thunderstorm had caused an explosion that blurred her vision, so only when the dust settled she could witness an immense amount of cubes blocking her attack, leaving the god unscratched. All the efforts she had put into this one attack were in vain. Lumine shuddered. Why did this powerful being attack her and her brother all of a sudden?! WHY??
A slight pain emerging from her fingertips snapped her back to reality. This time it was too late. Some of the cubes had already embedded her left hand and it took only a plain movement for the god to make the cubes swallow her body, too.
As her vision got blocked by brownish cubes, there was only one thought that kept the girl’s mind occupied: her brother.
“Wait, don’t go!” she shouted, “Give my brother back!” As expected, she did not get an answer. Instead her vision went black and her senses got dull. Surrounded by darkness, her consciousness was already on the verge of fading.
There she was, alone – already losing track of space and time again…