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"I've grown even stronger than last time, comrade, so no holding back, 'kay?" That was what Childe began all of his and Lumine's spars with. It was rather redundant by now, but Childe's pride in his combat ability knew no limitations.
Although Lumine had agreed to this fight, she wasn't exactly feeling up for it today. With ever-increasing threats on the horizon, the pressure to face it all was heavy. Even as the duel began, she wasn't fully present.
She dodged the first slashes of Hydro, then cut through the last one. That was easy enough. In the clearing, she advanced, sword charged with Pyro to evaporate incoming attacks. She managed to get a hit, albeit a weak one.
"Haha, this is just the warm-up, right?" Childe taunted, leaping back to prepare a new onslaught of strikes. Lumine bit her tongue, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. A few more well-timed manoeuvres got her close enough again, finally doing enough damage to force Childe to activate his Delusion.
The air crackled with Electro, sending Lumine stumbling back. She should be used to that stage now; why was she faltering today? Even so, she pressed on, blocking one side with Geo to corner Childe before launching a sprawl of Dendro and Hydro attacks. Once close enough, she ignited the blooming cores. The resulting reaction filled the field with explosions, sending them both flying.
Childe landed on his feet, hurt but still laughing. "Very well. This is where it gets good, huh?"
He tossed his weapon to one side, focusing on channelling abyssal power to activate his Foul Legacy. Human arms morphed into something warped and sinister, followed by the rest of his body. A surge of power forced Lumine to grate her sword against the floor (a habit the blacksmiths she knew heavily scorned) in order to keep upright.
The last hurdle. Once she beat him in this form, he would be too exhausted to continue, and then she, too, could rest. She raised her sword, but suddenly—
The phantom smell of smouldering ashes filled her senses. This battle brought her back to the one against Childe's far more lethal colleague, Arlecchino. The lingering dread seeing her stride across the ruins, intent on killing... the helplessness of being stuck in place no matter how hard she fought, the suffocating feeling of being too weak to stand up for what's right...
She was too distracted too defend herself. The blade struck her head-on, piercing through her abdomen. She crumpled.
Time seemed to stop.
"Hey... comrade?"
Nothing.
"...Friend?"
No. This wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to hurt her. Not really. But it would've been disrespectful not to go all-out. She always managed fine before.
Those thoughts and a million more raced through Childe's mind, but thankfully his body acted on instinct. Still in his transformed state, he lifted Lumine's weak body into his arms. Her eyelids fluttered, a quiet groan of pain leaving her lips. At least she was awake, he thought with a burst of relief, but she was still in a bad condition. He snapped the rest of the weapon off easily with his abyssal influence, leaving enough to plug the wound.
While speeding through the air towards the nearest doctor (and the only one in Liyue that he knew), Childe was plagued with sickening worries. What if she began to fear him? What if she despised him? What if... what if she never made it through this at all?
His grip tightened. He wasn't sure he could cry in his Foul Legacy form, and that was for the better.
"Hang in there, Lumine," he muttered, softness creeping in through the distorted sound of his voice. "Almost there."
Soon, he arrived on the steps of Bubu Pharmacy. Naturally, his appearance caused people to recoil and scream in horror, some already running away to report to the Millelith. That was of no concern to him. In fact, the less of a queue, the better. He was able to step right up to the front desk — after bobbing down to fit through the door.
Baizhu raised his eyebrows, assessing the sight before him. A giant abyssal creature, carefully carrying an injured Lumine. Changsheng slithered forwards for a closer look.
"Well... thisss is certainly an unusual cussstomer," she hissed, sounding strangely amused. That seemed to cause Baizhu to regain his senses.
"Never mind that for now. Lumine needs help. Bring her through to the back room right away, um... sir?" he said, leading the way. Childe wordlessly complied.
Once Lumine was safely laid down on the bed and being attended to, he felt his abyssal power waning alongside his adrenaline. He slumped against the wall as the transformation abruptly reversed, leaving him torturously drained but human in appearance once more. Usually, he'd want nothing but rest in these moments. But this was different. He'd hurt Lumine. He didn't deserve to recover.
He pulled himself up off the floor, suppressing a pained noise as he felt his muscles protest. Each step towards Lumine's bed sent dizziness and blurred patches through his eyesight, but he didn't stop until he was close enough to reach her hand and hold it tight between his.
"Hey... you're gonna be okay," he said, unsure whether it was to convince her or himself. "I'm here. You've got a doctor to help you. Just pull through, okay? I don't wanna lose my best sparring partner."
With those words, the last of his energy was spent. He propped himself up against the bed, feeling consciousness gradually drift away.
Before he was fully gone, he picked up a few muffled words.
"...isss that the Fatui Harbinger who came here once before?"
"Let's save the questions for later. Lumine, stay awake. This'll hurt, but please try to stay still for me..."
By the time Childe woke up, the room was silent. His brain was foggy, the memories of yesterday taking a while to catch up with him.
You hurt her.
He sat up with a jolt, scrambling to turn around and check on the figure lying on the bed. Breathing. She was still breathing. Childe finally remembered to do the same. There was a bandage wrapped over where his weapon had broken flesh, and— why did it still have blood on it? Something must be wrong.
"Doctor! Hey, get in here! Please!" he called through the door. The sound made Lumine stir, her eyes springing open. Childe turned back to her, scratching his neck sheepishly. "Oh, hey, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
He hesitated, unsure how to possibly express the hurricane of guilt that was tearing him at the seams, but he didn't even have the chance. Baizhu rushed in, his face set with concern.
"What is it? What's the matter?"
Childe looked back at Lumine's bandage. Looking at it again, it didn't actually seem like an emergency. He'd bled through plenty of gauze himself. "Aha, sorry. I saw blood and panicked. She... she's okay, right?"
Lumine gave him a weak smile that very slightly eased the barbed wire squeezing his heart. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Baizhu.
"Ah, ah, don't exhaust yourself. Save talking for after you've eaten." At that moment, Qiqi wandered in with a plate, handing it to Lumine with her usual dazed look and disappearing off again just as fast. Baizhu turned to Childe. "Indeed, Lumine is extraordinarily healthy. She will make a full recovery. I must say, though, sir, are you sure you don't need medical care yourself?"
Right. He did arrive here in full Foul Legacy mode. The Millelith were probably tracking him down as they speak, and who knows how many patients he'd scared halfway to their grave. He forced a chuckle, trying to sound casual.
"I'll be fine, thanks. This was nothing new for me. But..." He glanced at Lumine, failing to suppress a frown. Baizhu seemed to understand.
"Very well, then. The blood showing through the bandages is not of concern, but I will add a few more before leaving you be. Do try not to exhaust her, will you?"
It didn't take him long to follow through on that, checking Lumine was steady before leaving the room with a gentle door close.
Childe froze, words feeling meaningless for what he felt. He tried to say something, anything, to swear his life on an apology, but nothing felt quite right. Before he knew it, it was Lumine speaking first.
"Sorry about the fight. I wasn't feeling too great, and it... showed." She picked at some food on her plate.
"You're the one apologising? Lumine, I could've—" Saying the words out loud felt jinxed. Plus, acknowledging that he could well have killed her made him nauseous. Instead, he said, "I'm so, so sorry. I should've been more careful, more alert, or maybe I should've noticed you being off from the start, then this never would've happened."
Lumine gave him a disapproving look. At least she still had the strength to be annoyed. "You're not a mind reader. This is just what happens when you lower your guard in a battle." When he was still subdued, her face shifted to concern. "You're not really blaming yourself for this, are you? It was nobody's fault."
That should have settled Childe's gnawing anxiety, but it was stubbornly set in his gut. Not wanting to worry Lumine, though, he willed a smile onto his face. "Alright then. Next time, tell me if you're not feeling up for it, okay? I don't want this ever happening again. Plus, you know I'd still enjoy hanging out without a spar, right? With the Fatui's finances, we could go anywhere you like."
No doubt his pockets would be hurting from an offer like that, but it was worth it to see Lumine's small smile.
"I will. Thanks."
In the ensuing silence, Childe's own stomach grumbled, which elicited an awkward laugh from him. "You know, I think I'm more tired from worrying about you than the aftereffects of the Abyss. Maybe I should grab some food too..."
"Don't bother. Qiqi gave me a huge portion size, and Paimon's not around to finish it off for me. We might as well share," Lumine replied. Childe blinked, taken aback by the offer, but soon a grin spread across his face. He pulled up a chair next to the bed.
"Alright then! It'll be just like back home — we always share meals in my family. It's our way of showing love." Lumine said nothing to this, only smiled and placed the plate between them. The two finished off the remainder of the food together.
"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, was there anything in particular troubling you yesterday?" Childe asked after the plate was clear. Lumine hesitated, but ultimately confided in him, telling him of her loss to Arlecchino, how it made her fear that she really might die. Childe listened, his expression growing more serious as she went on.
Finally, she concluded with a fragile, "I guess the memory finally got to me in that moment, and... I froze. I didn't even process the stabbing."
Childe reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder — a gesture that would normally be filled with confidence, but was now far more gentle. "Hey, that's a terrifying thing to go through. You have every right to be affected by it. Besides, everyone has their moments of weakness... you've already seen me in mine before, but you didn't turn on me."
He smiled, although the memory wasn't exactly pleasant. When Lumine and Paimon stumbled upon him in the Ruin Guard factory, battered and defenceless, there was a moment where he genuinely thought it might be the end. But, of course, Lumine wasn't like that. Not only did she let him go, but she made sure his little brother was looked after, too. It must've been that day when he realised he would never have the heart to kill her, even if the Fatui ordered him to.
"You know," he continued, his voice quieter. "We may have our conflict of loyalties, but I truly wish you the best. If the day ever comes that the world pits us against each other, I hope for an epic battle that'll put the Archons to shame. But I also hope that, should you win, you'll decide not to end my life for good. If I win, I swear on my honour as a warrior to do the same."
Lumine was quiet, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Then, she replied with conviction, "I'd never kill you, Ajax."
A slow, surprised smile formed on Childe's face. "Ajax, huh? That's the first time you've called me that."
Lumine blinked, suddenly looking awkward. "I... didn't realise—"
"No, no, it's fine," he interjected. "I told you that name for a reason. I don't share that part of myself with many people, but you're one of those I trust it with. The name is yours to use whenever you like."
A response came after a pause. "Okay then... Ajax. My point was, people are complicated. Who we ally ourselves with isn't everything, and sometimes people who are close suddenly find themselves on oppsoite sides." Lumine sighed, a brief pang of longing on her face. "I don't want to make enemies when I can help it. So I consider you a friend."
"...And a comrade?"
She smiled. "And a comrade."