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“Wake up! C’mon, hurry! Navia’s outnumbered!”
Lumine’s eyes zoomed in and out of focus as she slowly sat up, head throbbing with the remnants of the Oceanid’s power. Adrenaline quickly thrummed through her veins as a Gardemek took a swipe at Paimon. The little fairy barely dodged the attack, Lumine rolling to the side before falling to the ground again. Someone in a full black suit drove the Gardemek back.
The sounds of battle raged in every direction, three against…a lot. Lumine couldn’t count how many there were, even if her mind were able to get past the number three. It felt like the entire world was pulsing, a single entity. A single heartbeat. Her heartbeat.
She registered Navia landing in front of her, sword drawn and tense. Silver and Melus flanked her. She spoke, but Lumine didn’t hear it. Then, she watched in horror as violet lightning arched over the mechanical army, felling many of their enemies in one go. Lumine’s heart thundered in her ears, sending hot pulses of panic down her body that left her fingertips numb and tingling. She’d gotten better about accepting the painful memories and letting them pass naturally, but still they fought her for control. Each rapid, rattling breath required every ounce of effort she possessed. Lumine glanced at Paimon, trying and failing to clear her head.
“Traveler…?” Paimon placed a tiny hand on Lumine’s shoulder, her voice barely audible. Her anxiety must’ve shown on her face, as Paimon’s own fell. The fairy wrapped herself around Lumine’s arm, which the Traveler belatedly realized was shaking. “That’s not her. You’re okay.”
That’s the problem with Electro Vision holders. It always looks like her…
Sparks flew everywhere, the clash of metal on metal, the destruction of mechanics, even the crystallize reactions that littered the battlefield sprung to life with a flash of lightning. Lumine couldn’t move, couldn’t think…but she couldn’t look away either. She tried to weakly raise her other arm in front of Paimon, the gut instinct to protect shining through her mental fog, but her body betrayed her. Lumine was focused solely on the elements that wove a fascinating dance of destruction before her, even though every bolt of lightning that crested the Gardemeks caused Lumine to flinch terribly. That was, until it stopped.
In her shock, Lumine failed to realize that all of their adversaries had been eliminated. In their place stood Navia, Silver, Melus, and Clorinde. Silver was silent as usual, but the other three were exchanging words. Strong words, if it was Navia talking. Lumine couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“They’re all gone… Thank goodness,” Paimon sighed, still clinging to Lumine’s arm. She locked eyes with her companion. “Are you alright?”
Lumine was tempted to nod, just for the sake of appearances, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie to Paimon. She shook her head.
“Okay, well… Just take a minute to recover. Paimon will do all the talking!”
Lumine used the Fountain of Lucine to pull herself up, working her way towards standing as Clorinde walked away. Paimon flitted about nervously, and thankfully, Lumine’s senses were returning to her. That’s when Navia finally walked over.
“What just happened?” Lumine croaked, her voice raspy from disuse.
“Woah, partner, I could ask you the same. You don’t look too good, are you alright?” Navia reached a hand out, hovering near the Traveler’s shoulder, but she thought better of it and retracted.
Lumine nodded, but even that was enough to destroy the progress she’d made. The world felt like it was spinning again, and she staggered a little.
Navia caught her. “Easy, I’ve got you.” She glanced at Paimon. “Did she tell you what’s going on?”
“No…” whimpered Paimon. Lumine berated herself internally. She hated making her companion worried, and she did it more often than she’d like to admit. She had to pull it together, for Paimon.
“Let’s get you out of here. We can talk about what happened after you’ve recovered.”
Lumine let Navia pull her along. Not like she had any choice in the matter, anyway, since her limbs did not want to obey her brain. Nevertheless, things started to improve, and Lumine was able to recount her experiences within the hour.
Fontaine was an interesting place, that’s for sure. The one thing that Lumine can’t seem to run from in any nation, though, was passing out after some strange experience. She should really be used to it by now, Paimon too. Maybe she should really stop being so reckless…