Chapter Text
Ten days had already passed since the night that Lumine had taken down the mighty Balladeer and Nahida began to worry about his current state. He hadn’t woken up in days, or show any signs of doing so. She knew that Lumine was still staying in Sumeru for some time before heading off to Fontaine so she came up with an idea.
“Please, I know the two of you have had quite the history but you are the only person I can ask to help do this.” Nahida pleaded, looking away from the traveler knowing that whatever reaction she was about to get was not going to be positive.
Lumine looked at her with a grim expression plastered on her face as well as Paimon who shook her head in disbelief.
“Are you crazy?!” Paimon shouted stomping her feet in the air. “You expect the traveler to do something as nice as this to the person who tried to kill her?! Lumine would never take up your offer even if-“
“I’ll do it, though I’m not looking forward to it.” Lumine declared making Nahida look back at her and let out a sigh of relief. Paimon on the other hand was less than thrilled.
She didn’t know why she said it. Maybe because she felt like she owed Nahida for all the information she gave her but she regretted it immediately.
“Wha- You- Paimon can’t even begin to explain how upset she is with you! There is nothing you can do to make Paimon agree to this!”
Lumine let out a small laugh as Paimon ranted about her decision. Nahida looked as if a weight had just been lifted off of her back and she gives Lumine a genuine grin.
“I honestly can’t thank you enough for this. Don’t worry it will only be for a couple of days and then I’ll come back...” Nahida stopped talking and looked over at Paimon who was still extremely annoyed. “Paimon, you can come with me while I go to Port Ormos since the traveler will be keeping an eye on him.”
“Hmph, and why would Paimon do that?” Paimon said turning her head away from Nahida. “I think I should stay with Lumine to make sure she doesn’t do anything reckless!”
“Paimon, if anything your the more reckless one between the two of us. Do you know how much mora we’ve wasted on unnecessary amounts of food for you?” Lumine joked making Paimon turn away from her too.
Nahida noticed how serious Paimon felt about being away from the traveler for a few days which made a lightbulb light up inside her mind.
“How about this, for the few nights we are away I will treat you to the best food in Sumeru for free. Is that suitable enough for you?” Paimon’s eyes widened and she looked back at Nahida with enthusiasm.
“Really? You’d do that for Paimon?” She giggled with glee as she flew right to Nahida’s side, giving a prideful look to Lumine. “Hehe, Paimon might not come back for a while!”
Lumine let out a weak laugh and rolled her eyes, clearly a bit glad to have a break from her flying companion for a short time. Nahida then looked over to Paimon and pointed down the path that would lead them to their destination.
“Paimon, can you go without me? I’ll catch up with you, but first I need to give the traveler some advice.” Paimon sighed a bit sad to miss out on the conversation, but agreed without a fight.
“Bye Lumine! I’ll make sure it tell you all about the delicious food I ate!” Lumine waved as her and Nahida watched her fly out of sight.
The silence made Lumine’s ears ring as the evening crickets chirped around them. ‘Why couldn’t she say it in front of Paimon?’ was the only thought in her mind.
“So… you have something important to tell me? It’s something bad isn’t it, that’s why you sent Paimon away first, right?” Lumine asked a bit puzzled. Nahida sighed, looking to where Paimon last was.
“No, nothing bad. It’s just a bit hard to have a serious conversation with her around, I didn’t want to upset her.” Lumine sighed with a nod looking off into the setting sun.
“Yeah, I can agree with that.” She looked back to Nahida unable to help feeling a bit uneasy about whatever she was going to hear next.
“I know that you and Scaramouche haven’t gotten along, and that you both have had a strong dislike for each other. But even so he still needs our help, and I believe that we should provide it.”
Lumine felt her heart rate pick up. Whenever the Balladeer was brought up she couldn’t help but feel uneasy, especially now considering she was going to have to take care of him after all he did to her.
“I know. it’s just so hard to face someone who’s done such terrible things. Especially if some of those things were directed to my own friends.” Lumine said softly trying very hard to hide her discomfort with the upcoming situation. She still hadn’t forgiven him for what he had done to Teppei, even if so much had happened since.
Nahida could see the hatred for him in Lumines eyes. She knew that this was going to be a hard thing for her to do especially after all of the trouble he caused her.
“I know it might be impossible, but I was hoping that maybe one day the two of you would be able to forgive each other and maybe someday even become friends.” Nahida said gloomily, and after hearing her words Lumine felt a bit guilty for complaining.
“It’s not impossible, maybe me and him could come to some sort of agreement.” Lumine replied knowing that she was lying, but she couldn’t stand to burden Nahida with feeling guilty for something she already felt bad about asking.
Nahida’s eyes lit up at her reply and she gave a small smile.
“Thank you, you really do put others before yourself even if you don’t like them, I admire that… well it’s getting dark and I don’t want Paimon to go to far ahead and get lost so I think I’m going to get going. Lumine felt a little worried about Paimon being alone so she nodded.
“Yeah that sounds like something she would do, bye Nahida. Oh, and tell Paimon to save some ajilenakh cake for me!” Nahida turned away before looking back one last time.
“Goodluck, I hope everything goes smoothly.” She gave Lumine a warm smile before walking away down the path Paimon went.
Lumine stared at the spot she left for a few minutes before letting out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding in. She tilted her head towards Vissudha Field where Nahida had hidden him. Behind some vines against a rock there was a small cave which is where he was resting, she advised Lumine to stay there with him at all times because if he happened to wake up while she was gone it wouldn’t be good.
Lumine began her walk to the cave feeling a bit paranoid. She didn’t exactly know why she felt like this, she was skilled at defending herself so what was there to be afraid of? Maybe it was the fact Paimon wasn’t there, or maybe it was because she was walking straight towards the person who tried to kill her multiple times.
The sunlight had completely dimmed and the only light was the moon and twinkling stars above her. She felt sad anytime she looked at them, they reminded her of her brother. When they were younger they watched the stars together as the made promises to always stick by each other, which obviously never worked out.
After a very long walk to her destination, Lumine felt exhausted. Night had fallen all around her and she felt completely alone, besides for a presence inside of the cave. She gulped as she lifted the vines to the side opening up the cave just like Nahida had told her to do.
The inside was completely dark which did not help settle her nerves at all. She quietly stepped in holding her breath incase he could somehow hear her. She held the vines open trying to illuminate whatever she could.
The only thing visible is something in the corner that seemed to be an untidy pile of clothes, but she couldn’t make out anything else. Lumine let go of the vines and stepped all the way inside, surrounded by darkness. All she could hear the breeze outside and the sound of her own unsteady breathing.
She carefully kneeled down next to the pile of clothes and brushed her hand gently against the fabric. It felt oddly warm considering that the caves interior was ice cold. She pressed her hand down to be meted by unexpected movement making her jump back with a quiet gasp. She looked down at what she just touched and as her eyes adjusted she realized someone was wearing the clothes, and who it was.
Scaramouche. He laid on his side with his legs tucked against his chest by his hands, which were covered in bandages. Her eyes widened as she looked at the sleeping puppet who as far as she knew didn’t seem to know she was there. Lumine sighed, feeling relieved that he was still asleep. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as she thought it was. All she had to do was to sit here and keep an eye on him for a day or two, nothing more.
Lumine sat down against the opposite wall of the cave finally feeling less worked up about everything. She closed her eyes and felt her consciousness start to float away, she thought that tomorrow would be no problem for her.
She was extremely wrong.