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Everything was hurting.
Her joints ached, her fingers cramped from weeks of unending battles, her feet stung like needles to the skin from how she spent most of her hours not once sitting down and her head pounded from the continuous exposure to heat of the summer sun.
And Lumine was tired.
Her limbs felt like they were under the weight of a thousand stones. Her eyes could hardly push themselves open and her mind was filled with nothing but fuzzy static. Through it all, she still persisted. For how was she befitting the title of 'hero', if weakness was shown?
" –mine? Lumine!"
Lumine blinked. What?
"C'mon, snap out of it!" A voice spoke anxiously.
Lumine's confusion did not subside. She slowly turned her head, she faced the direction of the voice and—
Right. Paimon. They were doing…
Commissions. Again.
Blonde hair rustled as Lumine lightly shook her head to clear her mind from the cotton in her ears. "Yeah, uh– sorry. I'm here."
"Lumine…" Paimon whined. "Paimon's worried. Lumine looks sick."
Lumine sighed. "I'm fine. Let's just— That was the last commission today. Let's go and claim rewards first."
"Okay…" Her companion muttered with distress swirled in her dull navy eyes.
Lumine's fuzzy mind took no notice of it.
Lumine walked almost robotically to the Adventurer's Guild's reception table as the pixie beside her floated nervously at her side. Each step seemed as though it was the agony of stepping on boiling hot lava.
"Lumine, are you sure you don't want to rest first?" Paimon asked once more.
Paimon had questioned her wellness several times at this point. Don't misunderstand her, she dearly cares for her oldest friend—well, aside from her brother but you get the point—but the fae's high pitched voice and her mind bending headache do not mix well in terms of her irritation.
Lumine simply gave a stiff nod as a response.
The walk to the Mondstadt desk was not a long one, normally. It felt like a mile a second in Lumine's current state.
Katheryne, the receptionist of the guild, greeted them once they were in her line of sight.
"Ad astra abyssosque. Welcome back to the Adventurer's Guild, traveller." Katheryne addressed politely.
Lumine gave a curt hum as acknowledgement. As always, Paimon had gone back to her unknown realm once they were done for the day. Truly, if she had the energy to even utter a single word properly right now, she would have asked the fairy the question but she digressed.
The exchange with Katheryne was an ordinary encounter as usual. Unknown to Lumine, the receptionist had been throwing faint worried glances at her sparsely the entire time but her exhaustion had affected her awareness of anything but work.
"Here are your rewards for today."
Lumine accepted them appreciatively.
"And…traveller. If I may,"
Lumine glanced at the woman.
"Please have some rest once you find the time. I'm afraid continued extrusion of this kind may result in illness and we can't have that." Katheryne advised.
Lumine stared at the receptionist for a few moments before turning around and walking off.
She can't do this today.
Lumine didn't believe her feet could have taken her much farther than a few steps so had allowed her instinct to guide her. She dug deep into her core and grabbed the first leyline that had reached out a hand.
She opened her eyes to lush green fields. A large tree with leaves that swayed with the wind, finches and cranes chirping in the background and a tall statue of a certain god of breeze.
Windrise.
Not the worst place she could have impulsively teleported to, she supposed. The healing was definitely a bonus.
She stepped forward a bit and froze.
Who knew teleporting could have very late and painful side effects if you are on the verge of collapsing?
Lumine let out a pained groan and took another step towards the statue's base before collapsing on the small step. She released a breath of relief as the healing powers of the statue stitched her up. The plum and azure of her bruises faded to her original pale peach and the edges of open scars brought themselves back together as before.
Unfortunately, magical healing abilities from ancient sculptures may only heal physical wounds. Nothing can be done about the fatigue, she's afraid.
Lumine lolled her head to one side and let the weight of this world be lifted off of her shoulders for a moment.
Damn it, she wants to cry.
Lumine pulled her legs to tuck close to her chest and rested her chin on top of her knees.
Should she just go into her Serenitea Pot? No, she doesn't know how many people are resting overnight there and she doesn't think her mental state will be able to handle anyone seeing her in her current state.
She's so tired. Tired of being treated like some form of errand girl that fights wars instead of handing out letters. The quests that the guild assigns her daily is fine to her since she gets paid but is getting any form of information about her brother in exchange for saving multiple nations from utter destruction that difficult?
She shivers at the cold breeze that wraps around her, in resemblance of an embrace.
' —And we can't have that.'
What more will they ask of her? How many times will she be appointed a soldier to fight in a battle where she has no business being in? How many more times will she play doll to the puppet masters around her? How many more times will she be wrung out of her original form until her mind is nothing more than an empty shell of what she once was?
Lumine let out a choked sob. Her eyes continued to water as her tears fell to the ground beneath her feet. She paid no mind to the reality around her. Stuck in her own head, she said nothing to the familiar scent of Starsnact Cliff's Cecilias that had appeared behind her.
She did not turn or show any indication that she had noticed his presence even if she was aware of his location. The slightest form of movement was the minor twitches of her ears from the sound of his steps that rustled the soft grass.
Venti made his way to the base of the statue, his cape fluttered from the natural breeze of Windrise. He said nothing as he slowly crouched down on the side of the pillar.
To Lumine, there was always a calming energy to Venti's wind, the scent of Dandelions, freshly brewed wine and the mischievousness of young wisps. It would never replace the natural serenity that came from her brother's aura of stardust and galaxies, but it truly is the next best thing to her.
With the promise of protection from a holy being, Lumine closed her amber eyes, the redness from her swallowed wallows closing with it. She can feel the soothing breeze that came from the bard before her. And now—
"You've done enough today, my warrior. Rest." A voice whispered as they brought a hand to cup the side of her head.
She leaned into the embrace, and dozed. This world may catch up to her tomorrow but for now, she is nothing but a star child exhausted from being chained to the land of foreign. So she will rest.
The melody from soft hums, almost like windchimes singing their nostalgic tune, accompanied her into her slumber.