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“I’m sure it was here.” Lumine remarked as she knelt down on the stone paving of Yujing Terrace. She grazed her hand over it, remembering the day the eleventh fatui harbinger had appeared out of nowhere and saved her.
“Are you sure? Wasn’t it up there?” Paimon pointed at the top of the stairs, but Lumine’s attention turned back to the ground she knelt on, ignoring the strange looks passerby gave her.
“No, it was here. We were cornered here, and there were two groups of millelith. Childe came from behind and protected us.” She clutched his vision in her hand, hoping perhaps tracing their steps would spark the glow in it again. She was at a brick wall, she needed a hint as to where to go, he needed to show her again.
“Paimon’s surprised you remembered!” The pixie chimed out, watching as Lumine stood up. “Did you get anything?” Lumine opened her hand, met with the same dull look of the harbinger’s hydro vision.
“No…” She sighed out as she held it close to her chest. “But there has to be something… I have to find something to link us to him. We can’t give up.” The traveler turned to look at the steps leaning down. “After… We ran this way toward the bank!” Paimon scoffed out as Lumine ran from her, floating after her.
“H-Hey! Paimon doubts we have to follow his exact steps!” Despite her words, the blonde traveler didn’t respond, clutching his vision as she ran. What if it did matter? What if overlooking any step would mean she wouldn’t connect to Childe?
Lumine panted out as she stopped beneath Wanwen Bookhouse, catching her breath while Paimon caught up to her. If she remembered correctly, they’d stopped here before… She walked closer to the steps, kneeling down to run one hand over the stone, her other hand open as she stared at the vision. She ignored Paimon peering over her shoulder, running her hand all over the ground, desperate for any connection.
“Well… What if we try the bank? He spent a lot of time there, didn’t he?” Lumine looked up at the looming buildings. For some reason, the thought of going up to the bank felt like a bad idea. One that gave her chills. But… She had to try, right?
“Let’s go.” A shiver ran up the outlander’s spine as she got back to her feet, heading for the steps that would take her right there. Every step, for some reason, filled her with more and more dread. Perhaps something was trying to tell her that if she went up, she’d find a connection, and something bad would happen.
By the time Lumine had made it up the first flight of stairs, she felt nausea. What could be waiting for her? Would Childe be drowning? Was the whale going to eat him? What if it didn’t light up, and instead dimmed? The worry was eating her alive, so much so that she couldn’t bring herself to climb the last flight of steps.
Not without encouragement at least. “Come on, Traveler! We’re almost there!” Paimon grabbed her upper arm, tugging her toward the top of the steps. A hesitant foot found the first step, then the next. Going up the steps was easier with someone like Paimon pulling her; but the uneasy, gnawing feeling within refused to leave.
“Good morning, Traveler.” Vlad greeted as he leaned back to open the door for the girls. Surely the causal reply had stemmed from Childe being friendly toward her; a few fatui members stationed in Liyue were kind to her, like Vlad and Nadia.
“Thank you.” Lumine replied as Paimon darted into the bank ahead of her. The blonde waved at Ekaterina, looking around. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for, but there had to be something. She wasn’t going to be able to feel out the entire floor in hopes of fighting the harbinger. Sparing another glance at the dull vision, she held it tight and walked to the counter. “Hi Ekaterina, uh… I know this is really weird to ask, but did Childe happen to leave anything behind when he left?”
“Hm? Like what? Master Childe has been away for a while. If he’d left you anything, I’m sure you would’ve claimed it by now.” Ekaterina flipped open a notebook.
“No, not for me. Just… Anything of his.” The fatuu looked at her, a brow raised.
“Y’know, like… Like any large weapons, or toys or something of his!” Paimon clarified, crossing her arms. “Or sheets or clothes?”
“I’m afraid not. As I said, Master Childe has been gone for a while. He took his stuff with him when he was last here.” Lumine exhaled as Paimon groaned out.
“Thanks anyway, Ekaterina.” She stepped away from the desk, holding the vision in her hand as she wandered the floor of the bank, searching for any pulse or shine.
"Let's go try the Golden House next." Paimon suggested. Strangely, Lumine didn’t feel the same fear from before. Not until they turned to leave. Paimon floated toward the door, exiting as a Fatuu held it open for her while Lumine lagged behind. The same fear and trepidation filled her being every step she took toward the door of the bank.
"Ah, I know you." Lumine let out a startled yelp as a large man grabbed her by the wrist, gesturing for the door to close. Her gaze turned up to the tall, black haired man in glasses. A friendly smile greeted her, but there was evident danger behind it. "You must be the traveler, hm? Tartaglia has talked a lot about you." Lumine hissed as he squeezed her wrist.
"Wh-who are you?" She snapped, met with laughter. The man reached for her other hand, forcing it open as he tried to take Childe's vision from her. "H-hey-!" He ripped it from her hand, tossing her aside as he looked over the bauble.
"Ah. Yes, this is indeed Tartaglia's vision. Dull, but it hasn't turned dim." He hummed as he looked it over, undisturbed as Lumine charged him, simply pushing her back again. "I see, so he's not dead yet. But why would a wench like you have this? Hm…"
"W-wench?!" Lumine growled as she got to her knees. "GIVE IT BACK!" She summoned her sword to her hand, charging the man who simply dodged her sword with a speed that surprised the traveler.
"Do you and the eleventh have some sort of connection?" He stared at the vision more, dodging Lumine's attacks with minimal effort. "You, woman." He grabbed her by the wrist again, squeezing it to force her to drop her sword. "You know about Tartaglia, do you not? Perhaps where he is?"
"I-I don't have to tell you anything!" She kicked up, hitting him in the chin before she reached for the vision again, dragged back by her arm.
"Ugh… I don't have time for your games, girl. Tell me what you know." Lumine let out a cry as he squeezed harder. It felt like he was trying to crush bone. "Hit me again, and I won't hesitate to turn you into mulch." Lumine hissed and squirmed in his grip despite the pain.
"I-I… I know where he is. A-And I'm trying to save him! Now let GO of me!" She shouted, seconds away from summoning her sword and cutting him up.
"Hm… You'd better, or we'll have to have a meeting again, one I'm sure you won't want to have." Lumine gasped as he took the vision, tucking it into her cleavage. Lumine's hands balled into fists as she huffed. "Something tells me your connection to him is stronger than mine anyway. You'll do better finding him." He pushed her away again, allowing the traveler to fall back to the ground. "Now get out of my bank." It took everything in her to not charge the man, but if she had to guess, he must've been a harbinger. He'd called it his bank, and with that speed…
As the bespectacled man walked away, the fear slowly dissipated, allowing the girl to collect herself and hurry out of the bank. If she'd attacked him right then, who would've known what would happen. As much as she would've liked to, she held back, exhaling as she exited. Perhaps she'd tell Childe about this later and let him beat the shit out of that man.
"There you are! Paimon was wondering where… Uh, Lumine?" Lumine glared at the pixie, missing the way Paimon cowered. "P-Paimon was just wondering why Childe's vision was…" Lumine looked down, greeted by the harbinger's vision wedged between her breasts.
"Let's go, Paimon." She stated coldly as she fished the vision out, clutching it in her hand.
"U-uh r-right! To the Golden House!"