Chapter Text
She was so tired.
It was just so fucking stupid, wasn’t it? She wanted her brother back. She just wanted to go home with him. But no, the gods decided to taunt her, making her work so hard, save two regions from disaster, making her run all those errands until she could finally find her brother… only to have him taken away again after she’d sacrificed so much.
She had made so many friends, but for what?
It was all pointless anyway.
All her efforts to get him back… wasted. Her dreams shattered as she watched him walk away with just the slightest hint of the Abyss in his eyes.
…She’d done so much, to try and get him back. Hoped that they would be together. Being forced away by fate, being made to watch as the light of her world, the one who was there for her when the going got tough, the one that comforted her all those worlds before… leave her.
Fuck, she’d even wished on a lantern to get him back.
She’d wished on a Xiao lantern to get him back.
She wanted him back-
She couldn’t take it anymore.
She hated the gods, for separating them from each other. She hated the Abyss, for corrupting her brother, her family. She hated Aether, for staying away from her, for accepting the Abyss. But most of all…
…She hated herself.
She should have been stronger, should have thrown herself in front of him, should have done something different, should have stuck with him, in the hope that if the god were to encapsulate them in her freaky red boxes, she would be able to at least be with him, even if that meant being corrupted by the Abyss together.
It was all in vain.
She thought about him. How he was the only one who had been with her all these years together. How he could relate to her so easily. How they’d fought together, side by side. How he said he would never leave her. Just like another…
Her thoughts drifted to another one. One with dark, teal hair, that would tell her to call for him if she needed help, and that he’d come. That he could hear her wishes. Her wishes on that Xiao lantern. Not only for herself but for him too. He would always leave a trail of light in the form of green butterflies wherever he went, and she briefly smiled.
She had wished for herself, sure, but she’d also asked the gods for another, a quiet plea in her heart.
…But he’d never understand. Sure, he was different from all the others she had met, but she knew he wasn’t her brother.
So why did she think of him, so suddenly? Was it the fact that their fates had been somewhat similar, two souls experiencing the same emotion of loss? Or was it the fact that he’d reminded her of her brother, someone who swore to be by her side, no matter what?
Subconsciously, she found herself reaching out to the teleport waypoint somehow in front of her. She transmitted to… somewhere. Everything was blurry. Wet landed on her clothes, and she wiped the water away from her face.
It wasn’t raining.
“Lumine? You there? Hey, snap out of it!”
Paimon? She sounded so… distant. Like she was a million miles away…
She stumbled to the edge of a cliff. The scenery was breathtaking.
She couldn’t care less about the view.
“Wah, Lumine, watch out!”
Watch out? For what?
She turned to her companion blankly. Everything was so unclear… it looked like she had looked through glasses that were completely foggy. She saw a large brown shape rapidly approach her. She blinked.
A Wooden Shield Mitachurl steadily advanced toward her, gaining momentum. It would be near impossible to stop.
Fear lashed out inside her and took control of her feet. She took one step backwards, then another, and another…
“Lumine!”
The pixie called out in fear, but she sounded so distant.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him.
It was so shitty, the way they had fallen into this situation. He was supposed to be with her ‘til their journey ended, wasn’t he?! They were supposed to be together forever, just like how the voice told them to…
Until death did them part.
She was so goddamn angry, at him, at herself.
He broke their promise. He didn’t stay with her.
She was so tired of fighting, of running. Of helping others with their troubles, just to wind up with no new information on her kin. No one really understood how she felt.
Maybe, if she were to just give up, it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe, if she died to this mitachurl, right here, right now, she would be spared by the gods and could rest peacefully.
The mitachurl grew ever closer.
In a panic, her instincts told her to run and enslaved her body. She stepped back hastily.
Time seemed to slow down as if the gods decided to extend her suffering. Well, at least it would be a scenic end.
She felt the rush of gravity pulling her down toward the ground, but it was so far away-
Paimon said something, she couldn’t hear her. Everything felt like she was slowly drowning underwater while the underbellies of boats retreated away from her.
She felt her energy draining. She made a final wish, that at least if she died, everyone would be safe…
Especially the one that could relate to her as she searched for her brother. The one who was such a good listener, who she could talk to when she didn’t know what to do.
Her eyelids fluttered shut on their own accord. The feeling of falling uncontrollably… wasn’t so bad after all.
Out of a blurry vision, she could have sworn she saw a green butterfly.