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Everything reminded Lumine of Aether.
It had been this way from the start, ever since they were separated. When Lumine had woken up on that beach, salt and sand clogging her nostrils, the first thing she had felt was a hollow ache in her chest. Something vital was missing, and when she had turned around, she realized that it was her brother.
Oh, sure, having Paimon as a companion lessened the loneliness a bit. After so much time spent traveling together, Paimon had started to be able to pick on when she was feeling lonely, and would react with some harmless jab at her. But it just wasn’t the same.
Aether would help her navigate this new world, Lumine would protect them from any strange monsters they came across, Aether would figure out whether things were edible or not, Lumine would cook them, the list went on and on. She could recall a thousand things about Aether, taken from all the worlds they had traveled across.
And so Lumine moved on, searching for her brother, alone in this strange new world. Her first stop, Mondstadt, was like a lungful of fresh wind. The bright grass and red rooftops distracted her from her loneliness, at least for a little bit.
The aching came back, though. Lumine knew Aether would love those homemade sausages, and almost had to stop herself from buying extra to take to him. He would laugh until his stomach hurt at Venti’s drunk singing, and marvel at the beautiful iridescent scales of Dvalin. Oh, how she missed her brother. If only he were here to move through this world with her.
So Lumine moved on. This city had too many things that reminded her of Aether, so she traveled to another, one that Paimon told her was called Liyue.
Liyue was solid and strong, just what Lumine needed to anchor herself after the flightiness of Mondstadt. The bustle and hustle of this shining golden city served to distract her, for a while.
No matter how hard Lumine tried, her chest started to hurt again, and she missed the comforting weight of her brother by her side. He would insist upon buying some of these lacquerware sets, taking them back and setting them on a shelf to admire. Those snacks would remind him of cookies they had met in another world, and the sweet scent of perfume near the shops would draw him in to go take a peek.
The ache was stronger this time, hurt more, and Paimon could only do so much to ease the hollow spot Aether had left in Lumine’s heart.
Then Paimon suggested they travel to another city.
Lumine was a little tired, now, looking for her brother in all these cities, endlessly. But she agreed, and off they went, to the land of lightning: Inazuma.
The sharp, starkly violet skies of Inazuma were just what Lumine needed to wake herself up. She marveled at the sporadic lightning, giggled as electro energy infused her body, distracting her mind.
But then Lumine remembered how much Aether would have liked Inazuma. How he would have been able to spend hours upon hours playing with the tanuki, tickling their bellies until both howled with charming laughter. The face he would probably make upon trying Ayato and Thoma’s hotpot, but then eagerly going in for another bowl. How he would have recognized the Raiden Shogun’s image, a duplicate of another Raiden from another world.
It hurt, again, and the hurt was only amplified and exacerbated by the loneliness the skies of Inazuma seemed to reflect, pouring rain endlessly upon the monotonous land. Paimon teased Lumine offhandedly, trying to provoke her into having a little more life, but it was no use.
So Paimon tried another city. The little sprite could tell Lumine was slipping further and further into herself, so it tried again.
Sumeru was full of lush, green, life, but Lumine didn’t register any of it. Everywhere she looked, she could see Aether’s presence, and feel the matching hollow noise her heart made when it bounced off her empty ribcage. Aether, in the reflection of her drink. Aether, in the eyes of the little mushrooms. Aether, looking through the books in the Akademiya.
The world blurred past as she searched for her brother, looking for her other half, the other part of her soul. Rain drenched her hair and grit coated her hands, but she kept looking, eyes focused on Aether and nothing else. Nothing else could be as important as finding her other half again, the one person who knew every detail of her mind and shared every experience with her.
She was tired, so tired, of all this life surrounding her and being unable to experience it with the person who mattered most in the world. Fighting had become difficult, when there was no one to fill in her weak spots, no one to guard, no one constantly at her back to support her. So she recruited some people she met from all over the land to help her, but they faded in and out of her life, being preoccupied with their own.
Often, she found herself calling out his name, maybe when wandering among flowering hillsides, maybe in the middle of a crowded city, maybe in the emptiest halls and corners of domains.
Aether, she would call, and wait for the response. Sometimes, she would say her name to herself, just to remember it. She would try and mimic the way that her brother said it, the exact inflections and sweet smile that accompanied it, but was never able to get it just right. Paimon would look at her, concern painted on its face, but she would continue to repeat his name over and over, the sound bouncing off the walls of her mind.
Maybe she had lost herself just a little bit, in the seemingly never-ending search for her brother, but that was no matter. She would persevere, and bring him back, no matter the cost.