Chapter Text
“Don’t say another word!” Aether hissed, pulling Lumine into his room by the wrist. He closed the wooden door with a gentle snap before whirling onto his twin sister. “You can’t say that out in the open where Mother and Father could hear you!”
“They’re never here,” Lumine rolled her eyes in exasperation, tugging her arm away from him. This was not news. Their parents were hardly ever home. They were too busy with their diplomatic jobs with the remnants of Khaenri’ah to worry about their children. She flopped onto Aether’s maroon sheets. “Listen, I’m being serious. Mother and Father aren’t going to budge on sending you to the Academy. If you really don’t want to go, why don’t I take your place, and you can go to Sumeru instead of me? It would be perfect!”
It was Aether’s dream to study the wildlife in Sumeru. He had always been fascinated by animals, but as they grew up, he became enraptured by the legends of the Aranara. He had fought tooth and claw with their parents to try to attend the same program as Lumine, but they had been firm on their stance. Lumine had to go because she was Visionless—a failure in their eyes. Aether was to become an Adventurer, just like their father.
Aether crossed his arms, a frown marring his face. “As much as I’m tempted, aren’t you forgetting a couple of small details?”
A couple and small were probably not the right words for the problems. The first issue was that the Teyvat Academy of Adventurers only accepted male students. Lumine looked down at her body. Even though she trained hard every day, her shoulder were much slimmer than Aether’s. Her hips were wider. And she had breasts. Things that she couldn’t change. She would have to bind her chest and wear baggy shirts to pass even as a petite man. Lumine chewed on the inside of her cheek, thoughtful. If she had learned anything from her barely present parents, it was that people normally weren’t looking for a deception. And if people weren’t looking for deception, then they wouldn’t find one.
The second—and bigger—problem was that the Academy only accepted Vision-wielders, and Lumine was not one of them. She hadn’t been blessed by any Archon. Hadn’t received a sacred Vision unlike her brother, who sported a gleaming Pyro Vision at his waist. If anyone asked her to demonstrate her Vision, Lumine wouldn’t be able to. That was probably why Aether was pacing back and forth, hands playing anxiously with the hem of his shirt. It was illegal to pose as a Vision-wielder when you were Visionless. Lumine knew what the punishment was.
“You know that you’ll be sentenced to death if you get caught, right?” Aether pinned her down with a glare. “How could you even suggest something like this?”
Lumine crossed her arms, defensive, “I’ll be the only one taking the risk. You, Mother, and Father won’t be responsible.”
Sure, it would be a scandal for two days, but it wouldn’t be like anyone else would be sentenced to death. Vision-wielders were something of a rarity in Teyvat, and in order to protect these rarities, Vision-wielders were almost always above the law. Or maybe it was because Vision-wielders were the law… Lumine didn’t know how to separate the two. Though it had been 500 years since the Archon war, Vision-wielders still held the government in a vice-grip. Either way, she knew the risks. At worst, death for herself. At best, she’d graduate the Academy and become the greatest Visionless, female Adventurer the world of Teyvat had ever seen. The thought made her heart pound in her chest.
“You make me nervous whenever you have that look on your face,” Aether complained half-heartedly, sinking onto the bed next to her. “All right. Fine. Pretend I’m interested. What are you going to do when someone asks you to use your Vision?”
Lumine stared down at her hands, running a finger down the calluses at the junction of her fingers and palm, “It’s not a requirement to use your Vision. I’ll just lie and say that I’m so powerful, I’m afraid of hurting everyone!”
Aether rolled his eyes, “Remember the whole thing about you being me? I don’t want a reputation of being arrogant. Can’t you just lie low?”
“Would you rather I tell everyone that I’m afraid of my own fire?” Lumine grinned at him cheekily. Aether glowered, clearly about to lash out with a sharp protest. “Relax, Aether. I won’t draw any attention to myself. I’ll be in and out of there in four years and no one will even remember you were there. Once we switch back, we can take the licensing exam for our respective fields, and no one can say anything!”
Surprisingly, Aether quieted, a thoughtful frown on his face. Slowly, he leaned back until he was staring up at the ceiling. Lumine followed suit. What was so interesting about the ceiling?
“We’d have to get you a fake Pyro Vision,” he started, voice distant in thought. “I have a friend who might be able to help.”
“Your Inazuma friend?” Lumine couldn’t keep the disgust out of her voice.
Aether pointed a finger at the side of her nose, “For the record, you’re the one who wants to break Teyvat’s laws just so you can go to school. Don’t judge Ei for her…side business.”
Lumine wondered how her parents would feel if they knew Aether’s not-girlfriend was the kingpin of the largest underground Delusion market.
“At least I don’t kill people,” Lumine muttered under her breath. Delusions were no joke. They were not meant for Visionless people to use, and even a couple of uses would send a Visionless person to the brink of death.
Aether didn’t react to the jab. Lumine was glad. She needed her twin on her side—not for this to devolve into another spat.
They laid in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The only noise Lumine could hear was Aether’s steady breaths and the pounding of her own heart.
Then—
“Are we really doing this?” A breathy laugh as Aether rolled to his side to look at Lumine.
She rolled to her side too, barely concealing a grin of excitement. She tucked her visible beam of hope and joy away with difficulty, “You still haven’t said if you agree yet.”
Aether stared at her, eyebrows raised in disbelief.
“You’re literally so stupid, Lumine. Come on, we have a lot to figure out.”
Lumine laughed.