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“In Teyvat, the stars in the sky will always have a place for you”
She never knew exactly where she heard that quote from, but rather than inspiring her like it did with her companions: from being a reliable source of information for the Astrologist, to becoming a muse to the Prinzessin. Instead to the Traveler, they haunted her.
The time she had spent in this world was a memorable experience, she had it all. Fame, fortune, friends, companions, even lovers. But the more time she spent in this world, the more she spent searching for him. She could hear their call, it was only until these last two nations could she see the stars more clearly. What ordinary people would assume to just be a sea of stars, was home to them.
And she so badly wanted to return home with him, but that would mean leaving this wonderfully flawed world behind, and to say goodbye to her memories of here... of them.
Never had she a problem with love on the worlds they travelled to, the act a taboo between the twins that would only end in heartbreak shall they break that code. But then they separated, and that became difficult to abide by. And left her with the most troubling dilemma she had to face.
Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort, the Prinzessin der Vertuilung. And the Illustrious Mona Megistus.
Two unassumingly eccentric residents of Monstadt, a princess from another world and an astrologist. Yet they both had correctly deduced the nature of her origins, thus earning a bond of trust between them all.
That trust led to many an adventure in the land of freedom, and beyond.
Though one misadventure between the traveler and the prinzessin had brought the two closer than ever, swiftly followed by the astrologist falling on hard times. Each of these events wrought with hurt and comfort: From being there for Fischl when she had painfully lost a part of her, to giving Mona a friendly lift when she was at her lowest.
That was when was she felt for her best friends in the entirety of Teyvat had became more than just friendship. What she began to desire, was a romantic one... and despite how they both wanted the same.
She was scared, afraid that if she were to pursue this she would either have to at some point say goodbye or to lie through her teeth that she’d stay and leave the moment the opportunity rose.
Because it wasn’t like she’d be leaving as if it was a one night stand, they would always leave behind a fragment on the worlds they visited: a Living, Breathing Memory of themselves that could live as if it was a real person, even perish like a real person. All it would take is their memories of the world, letting them leave without any worries ever. But as perfect this seems, it’s imperfect in that it’s not the real her.
So impulsively she distanced herself from them, or tried to at least.
Which led to where they were know, atop one of the spines of the world as the Prinzessin put it.
“You my kind sir have my gratitude, to take time out of your life to guide the likes of my retinue atop the jagged spines of our dear realm” Fischl thanked them.
“Ti yada...” the rogue growled before continuing on it’s way.
“Should we... have let it roam... free?” Mona huffed, two halves because of the climb and the equipment she was carrying. “Mm no it should be fine, Rogues are a lot more conscious than regular hilichurls... and because I usually see that one around these heights” Lumine explained.
“Hark! The height and time is nigh for your astrological calculations Lady Megistus, set forth on your medium while we prepare the most decadent morsels for this glorious night” Fischl spoke before helping with setting up the cliffside for their little stargazing picnic.
“So Mona how goes the calculations?” Lumine asked atop the sheet.
She switched from consulting the astrolabe to peering through the microscope every often. “It won’t be long before the time comes for us to take our gaze to the sky, so I give it about 10 minutes”
“Oh you gotta- (ahem) You must sample the likes of these confectionary platters our dear traveler have baked for our mountainous journey, for their taste alone shant be explained for how sacrilegious I’d have to describe them” Fischl beamed.
“Hm I’m never usually one for desert, but just this once I shall indulge” she agreed, taking a plate and bottle from the basket over to where she sat. Debating on which pastry to sample before agreeing on the slice of cake, digging a fork in and into her mouth. “O-Oh my...”
“This is delicious!” she exclaimed before taking another bite. “Why thank you” Lumine smiled, as she dug into a macaron.
“They sound like the best kind of friends you’d wish for”
“Heh yeah, I’ll be honest it took a while after getting to know them each until things just clicked”
The two were busy at the counter, baking macarons together. Golden heads tied back for their work.
“And they’re your housemates?” Navia asked.
“Well just recently Mona has, while Fischl sometimes stays the night not that I’d ever deny them or anybody a place to stay. Until then it was just me and Paimon staying in there” Lumine explained.
“Then why do speak as if you’re lonely?”
“What?”
“You have plenty of friends, yet with a companion like Paimon and your two best friends with you. You just sound so lonely” Navia explained.
“Like she said she has me?” Paimon butted in with the icing. “But yeah half the time you talk about them it sounds like you wanna smooch them” she then explained bluntly.
“No I don’t”
“Yeah you do” she teased.
“I-Can we just stop talking about this?” Lumine asked. “Why are you so worked up about this, it’s fine that you want to do that and Paimon would be happy for you”
“Yeah and I don’t want to” she began to argue. “Wh-Why not?”
“Because why should I when I have to leave them anyway?”
“But you can’t keep living like that!”
“OKAY, YOU TWO STOP!”
“... Paimon’s right Lumine, you can’t keep denying yourself this” Navia agreed.
Lumine sighed and slumped down to the floor. “I just don’t want to forget them...”
“What do you mean?” Navia asked sitting beside her.
“The moment we leave this world, all the memories I made here, they’re going to go away”
“And I can’t stay, neither of us can”
“I can understand just how painful love can be” Navia spoke after a bout of silence.
“It can’t always be sunshine and rainbows, there’s going to be some hurt and pain eventually”
“Only true love can withstand hurt and pain, and it takes that to leave it behind”
Navia leaned closer.
“I’m not telling you should. But even if you’re going to forget them, when that time comes it’s going to hurt a lot more knowing you’d never took the chance to experience what loving them was like”
“... thanks Navia” she breathed.
“No problem” she gave her a squeeze. “So what’s your plan here?”
“I-”
(beep, beep)
(beep, beep)
“Ah the time is nigh!” Mona beamed as she returned to the setup. “Oh really I was having a great time looking at these stars?” Lumine joked.
“While your jest has ground to stand upon, what we seek tonight is much more wondrous than the stars that watch-”
“It’s nearly upon us!” Mona shouted as she returned to their seating area. “I’ll forgive your brazen inter-”
In silence they could see what they searched for. From the edge of the horizon amidst the sea of stars a lone thin streak of light sailed across. A bright yellow star was in flight, a trail of stardust following suit. Slowly making it’s way across before disappearing into the other half of the horizon.
“Before you ask, no I do not know them” Lumine joked. Choosing not to dwell on the hand atop her own.
“Such a dazzling sight to behold” Fischl spoke.
“You are quite welcome, I spent a while tracking that particular star and I wished to have you witness such a sight” Mona hummed.
“So I believe it is time we start packing up and head home” she suggested.
“Indeed, for the sweets we have procured have long since been consumed” Fischl agreed. “And as thanks for your kind labor I shall assist in-”
“Hey” Lumine interrupted the two.
“Could we... stay for a while, there’s something I want to talk to you about”
“Of course my companion. Come pray tell what ails your mind” Fischl answered. Mona nodding the same as they returned to where they once sat.
And so she told them, repeating the story of how she arrived here. Going into detail the nature of her being, how as a being of pure stardust she could change her form as she pleased.
Then came the explanation of how despite the experiences she could have on a world they never truly stayed, that in the end this grand adventure in the world of Teyvat she would not be able to have fond memories of it once she left. And the dire consequence that would befall her, if she chose to stay.
“That is... quite a sad consequence to bear” Mona spoke.
“But why tell us all this now? What brought you to reveal a secret such as this?” Fischl spoke, tone mixed between her past and present selves.
“Because I care about you, more than I ever thought possible and it scares me”
“You’re the first and possibly only people in Teyvat that I feel such a strong connection to, and I want to express it but- I... I didn’t want to ruin what we have, nor forget it all”
Fischl gazed bewildered. “A-are you... oh stars...” she blushed.
“So... you like us both, but you can’t figure out who to choose...?” Mona spoke.
“It’s not just that, if I was to pursue either of you. I’d have to leave behind my memories of you, and I don’t want that” Lumine pointed out.
“Then let us live everyday as if it was the last” Fischl decided. “H-whu...”
“I believe I have spoken” she huffed. “If there is a day that fate cruelly decrees we forget what we have, then we shall enjoy the time we have until the end” Fischl put on her bravado before sitting atop her and placing her hands between her face. “Lonesome Traveler you alone with your bravery, strength, and beauty have managed to capture the heart of your dear Prinzessin!”
“I have kept this secret under lock and key, only ever confessing to my trusted familiar Ozvaldo”
“So Traveler please accept my confession of love, and I shall give you the honor of becoming my beloved Ritter!” Fischl ended, face furrowed amidst intensly red cheeks.
“Uh I uh...” Lumine blushed.
“Sounds like we are in agreement then” Mona spoke inching close.
“If that’s the case then I’ll happily indulge in this arrangement, not only shall we live every day to the fullest but shall do so as lovers” She decided and leaned in.
“But I don’t know who to choose” Lumine balked.
“I believe miss Megistus referred to lovers as Plural” Fischl corrected. “Huh?”
“Why do you think we invited you out here? To give you some companionship yes, but also to show how we felt and cared about you” Mona patted her hand. “Your Prinzessin has also missed the times in which we, all three of us have had our adventures together”
“So me and Fischl have came to you with a proposition: for the three of us to pursue an open relationship together with one another... so what do you say to that”
“I’d... like that very much” Lumine admitted.
“Then it is decided, rejoice for tonight we celebrate in preparation for the morrow in which we emerge as a royal couple!” Fischl beamed before-
“Mmph!” Lumine hummed as she took her cheeks and kissed her. “Now hold on! You said if all went well I’d get the first move!” Mona balked. Fischl pulled away. “As the common folk put it: You Slumber, You Weep” and smugly stated. Only for Mona to take Lumine’s face away from her and place a kiss upon her lips. “H-Hey!” she yelled.
Lumine would pass out at some point from how often the two fought for the right to kiss her, but instead of mourning how this would at some point be remembered by anyone but herself, she finally could move past it to to live in this very moment.