Archive of Our Own

"Lyney, you know this is a terrible idea."

Lyney had just finished telling Lynette of his plan to get Lumine to hang out with them again. Ever since the trial, things had just been a little tense. No matter how he tried, she always ended the conversation before it could truly begin. The only thing he's really managed to do was give her a Rainbow Rose as part of a magic trick. At least she was still willing to see those—probably because Paimon was always so insistent. At least Lyney had that to thank Paimon for.

And Lyney knew. Knew that there could still be a way to repair their relationship. He just had to find the right trick or strategy to do so. He could do that. Tricks were his specialty after all. His most recent idea was to get Lumine to help in his upcoming magic show. And why couldn't Lynette help? Well... she could, but Lyney really thought that this might work. After all, he knew just how caring Lumine was. She volunteered to be his attorney after only knowing him a short while. Things would have continued smoothly between them, had Furina not brought up the fact that he and his siblings were members of the Fatui. It was all in good reason—their goals aligned—but he knew that Lumine had quite the number of run-ins. He understood why she was weary around him and his siblings now.

That of course wouldn't stop Lyney from being friendly. Lyney was one for theatrics and getting along with people after all.

"Lyney, I'm telling you this is a bad idea."

"Aw, come on Lynette." Lyney frowned at his sister. "It's the perfect plan. We both know how capable she is, there's no reason that the Traveler won't be able to perform the tricks."

"What makes you so sure she'll agree?"

"That all depends on you, my dear sister! You just need to act the part. Go into... acting-mode, or something."

"That's not how it works."

"It is how it works." Lyney sighed. "Alright. If you agree to do this for me, I'll buy you a dessert from the café."

"You know I could always go out and get those on my own, right?"

"Lynette," Lyney dragged out his twin sister's name. "We've already talked about why you can't go and get those on your own. You'd much rather fill up on sweets than have a balanced diet."

"I always go into exercise-mode afterwards."

"Fine." Lyney sighed. "How about this: you do this for me, and I'll let you have an extra dessert after dinner for a week."

"Two weeks." 

"Lynette."

"Oh, I think I'm feeling just wonderful today. The healthiest I've ever been."

"A week and a half!"

Lynette was quiet. Lyney watched her as she debated on whether to take the deal or not. He knew that it was a bad idea to let his sister have all those sweets, but it was for a good cause! This was his chance to change things with Lumine, and maybe even open up the possibility for something more. Even though his end goal was to confess, he needed to get to friendly terms first. But he first needed to focus on the task at hand: convincing Lynette.

Lynette finally nodded after a minute that felt like an eternity to Lyney. "Fine," she said with a sigh. "I'll go into sick mode. But I get to pick the dessert I have."

"You get to pick it, but I'll limit the size."

Lynette shrugged. "Then it's a deal."

Lyney smiled. That was exactly what he wanted. "Yes! Thank you, Lynette! I promise, it will be worth it!"

"If you say so. I'm helping you get this chance, so you'd better not mess it up." Lynette stepped forward and poked Lyney's chest. "I like being your assistant."

"I know you do, and I like having you as my assistant. It'll only be for this one time. I promise."

Lynette nodded and walked away, presumably to fix things in her room to prepare for her role. Lyney peeked around the corner and shouted lightly after her, "Make sure you look extra ill!"

He didn't get a response from his twin, but he was sure that she heard him. Now all he had to do was go out into the city and perform some magic tricks. If the Traveler was around, she would find him soon enough.

Lumine had just finished some of her commissions for the Adventurers Guild, and was strolling through the city. She was still new to Fontaine, and she liked walking through the countless roads and pathways to familiarize herself. The city was beautiful, if a bit confusing at times.

That, and there was a chance that a certain magician would be out performing.

Lumine didn't want to admit it, but she knew Lyney's usual spots for performing magic. Even though she didn't stay to watch up close, sometimes she would pause and watch from afar. Lyney's magic shows were always something to witness, even though she didn't quite know what to think of the Fatuus anymore. He didn't seem to be a bad person, that much was true, but his background was something she couldn't ignore. Not after all her encounters with the Snezhnayan organization.

"Traveler? Are you alright?"

Lumine looked up at her traveling companion, Paimon. She smiled and nodded. "Yes, Paimon, I'm alright. I was just thinking about how vast this city is. It's much bigger than anywhere else we've been to."

"Uh-huh. And this is why Paimon says we should just sit down and enjoy the good food!"

"You always have food on your mind."

"And you should try speaking your mind more. If only everyone else knew how chatty you can be." Paimon crossed her arms and stared accusingly at Lumine.

Lumine laughed lightly. "That's because you like doing all the talking, Paimon."

"You're right! You don't have to worry about a thing, Paimon can talk for you! But you know, it wouldn't hurt you to say a few things every now and then."

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Good! Now Paimon wants to see what's good on the menu—oh! Look, it's Lyney!"

Lumine's eyes widened as she looked forward and saw the magician as he performed a few tricks in front of a crowd. It looked like Lyney's popularity had done nothing but increase. Even despite who he was. But one's skill in magic and performance should always be rewarded, and it was clear that Lyney liked doing it—Lumine could tell that much.

Paimon floated ahead, then looked back at Lumine. "Come on! Let's go watch."

Lumine nodded and reluctantly followed after Paimon. She would just have to remember why she stayed away from Lyney in the first place. She couldn't trust him. There was no way that she would be able to put any sort of trust in him. It just wasn't possible, not as long as he was part of the Fatui. The worst part about it was that Lumine knew that Lyney wouldn't change, because his goals aligned with theirs—in Fontaine at least. Lumine decided that this was Lyney's redeeming quality; he was doing this all for a good cause.

Lumine stayed towards the back of the crowd as Lyney performed his magic. She preferred not to be seen by him during the show, lest she wanted to be covered in Rainbow Rose petals. It wouldn't be the first time that Lyney had tried to do something like that to her. It was always beautiful, but it was a sort of tainted beauty. Reality always had a way of doing that. Anything that seemed good, almost always had a hidden meaning behind it. Just like when Lumine was able to reunite with her brother for that brief moment. It was a simple and short conversation before they had to part again. It felt the same with Lyney, so Lumine decided she would much rather keep the magician at a distance. She didn't want another person to incur that feeling of longing—she could only handle so much.

In no time at all, the short performance was over. Lumine heard Lyney address the crowd as they began to disperse. "Don't forget! This is just a taste of our grand performance at the Opera Epiclese tonight! There still might be time to get a few last minute tickets! Ask the staff at the opera house for more details!"

Before Lumine could leave along with the rest of the crowd, Lyney spotted her and Paimon. And Paimon didn't have as many reservations towards the twins as Lumine did. Lumine simply had more of a difficulty looking past the giant elephant in the room.

"Lyney!" Paimon happily floated towards the magician. "Tell Paimon how you did that last magic trick. The one with the disappearing cards."

"Come now, Paimon, I've already told you that a great magician can't go around revealing his secrets like that." Lyney glanced towards Lumind, and Lumine immediately averted her gaze. She couldn't. She couldn't just treat him as if nothing happened.

"Please! Just tell Paimon!"

"Nope! But maybe you'll get it if you come to the show tonight!"

Lumine noticed the slight shift in Lyney's expression as he mentioned the show. And she couldn't keep her own curiosity at bay. It was as they said: curiosity killed the cat. It was because of her curiosity that she was constantly roped into doing all sorts of commissions, but since it was Lyney that seemed to be struggling, she didn't see the issue in asking. After all, there was a time when they were on friendly terms. Lumine looked at Lyney with a bit of worry. "Lyney, is everything okay?"

Lyney's gaze fell, and Lumine was finally able to see just how worried he was. "No," he confessed, "the truth is, I've been trying to figure out what to do."

"Huh? Why's that?" Paimon floated closer to Lyney. It looked like she was trying to read his mind and figure out what was wrong.

"It's Lynette. My dear sister is sick, and I can't cancel the show now. She had been feeling a little under the weather the past few days, but we both thought she'd be better before the show. But she woke up this morning, and felt so much worse! She hasn't even been able to get out of bed. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Don't you have other assistants in your troupe?" Paimon frowned as she asked.

"I do, however," Lyney paused, "none of them feel confident enough to perform thee biggest rick in the show. Only Lynette is able to do it properly."

Lumine was quiet for a moment. After she heard the circumstances, she couldn't just let this happen to Lyney's show. She knew how important this was to him, and how much joy it always gave to the people who attended. She sighed softly. It couldn't hurt to try... right? She finally made eye contact with Lyney. "Lyney," her voice was soft. "If you really don't have anyone else that can help you, I could give it a try."

Lyney's eyes widened. "Really? Lumine, you would do that for me?"

Lumine slowly nodded. In all the worlds she had traveled to, she had never worked as a magician's assistant. All she knew was that she was mesmerized by Lyney's performance, and she really wanted to know what it was like to be a part of the magic. And since it seemed like Lyney didn't have any other options, she might as well offer. It wouldn't be the strangest commission she accepted. "Yes."

"And you'd better compensate us for it!" Paimon pointed at Lyney, but Lumine shook her head.

"No, it's fine Paimon. This doesn't have to be an official commission."

Paimon floated closer to Lumine and whispered to her, but like always, her voice was still loud and it was clear that Lyney would be able to hear. "Traveler, are you sure? Even though Lyney's nice, he's still part of the Fatui!"

Lyney coughed loudly, and Lumine shook her head in disappointment. Leave it to Paimon to do something like this. "A little quieter next time, Paimon."

"Oh," Paimon laughed nervously, "sorry Lyney."

"It's alright." Lyney smiled at them, but Lumine saw something that was off, like it wasn't his true smile. Did that comment hurt him in some way? As much as Lumine had her reservations, her intention was never to make him feel bad. She wasn't that kind of person. All they needed to do was practice. Lumine knew she was capable of picking up plenty of things. Why would being an assistant in a magic show be any different? All she had to do was follow Lyney's instructions.

"Um, I'm still happy to help, Lyney," said Lumine. "I wouldn't want anything happening to your magic show."

Lyney bowed. "Thank you so, so much Lumine, you don't know how much this means to me. Why don't you come with me to tell Lynette the good news so she doesn't have to worry?"

Lumien gave Lyney a small smile, and then nodded. It still felt awkward, but she didn't want Lynette to worry. That wouldn't be good for her sickness as all. "Yes, that way she won't strain herself worrying about it."

"Perfect. In that case, follow me."

Lumine followed Lyney through the streets of Fontaine to the House of the Hearth. She was always a little intimidated being so close to Fatui territory. She knew nothing would happen in the city—that would create too many diplomatic problems. Lumine was not a diplomat in any sense of the word, but she was getting a handle on how affairs in Teyvat were conducted. Nothing would actually happen in the city.

Lyney opened the door, and Lumine stepped inside. This was actually the first time that she had been inside. The interior was simple, and seemed to look just like any other Fontanian household. There wasn't much that Lumine could pick out. It just looked like a normal home. There was nothing even remotely suspicious about it.

"Oh, you haven't been inside our home yet, have you?" Lyney smiled nervously. "I apologize that your first time here isn't under better circumstances, but welcome. We'll have to invite you over properly once Lynette has recovered. Oh, and Freminet's on a diving trip right now, so he isn't here at the moment either."

Lumine allowed Lyney to lead her to another room. She took note of their surroundings, but again, there really wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Lumine had to mentally chide herself. Lyney had been nothing but nice to her, and here she was, expecting there to be something wrong with his home. It was a base for the Fatui, yes; however, Lyney was inviting her into his home. That held more risk to it than simply seeing each other on the street. Going inside their home was a very personal and intimate affair. She was only here to see how Lynette was doing and reassure the girl that everything would be alright. There really was nothing more to it.

Lumine was taken out of her thoughts when Lyney stopped walking and knocked on a door. "Lynette, are you alright? I brought the Traveler with me, can we come in?"

A muffled yes came form the other side of the door, and Lumine and Lyney stepped inside.

Lynette was laying in bed, crumpled up tissues all around her. Lumine even saw a few tissues on the floor. There were a few props set up in the corner, and another bed besides the one Lynette was sleeping in. Lumine could only assume that the twins slept in the same room. Lynette's top hat sat on the nightstand next to her, along with a glass of water. The girl in question laid in bed, and only her head poked out from the piles of blankets she was under. Her face had a slight flush to it, and it was clear that she was not feeling well enough to perform.

Lyney went to his sister's side. "Oh Lynette," he said with a sigh. "How do you feel? I'm so sorry I haven't been able to stay by your side today."

"It's fine Lyney." Lynette's voice was hoarse and she spoke even quieter than usual. "I'll be fine. Have you found someone to take my place tonight?"

Lyney nodded. "Yes, that's why we're here."

"We?" Lynette looked over. "Oh, Lumine? You're here too? And Paimon too."

"Hi Lynette! Sorry you don't feel well..."

"Yes. Lynette, I'll be the one helping Lyney in the show tonight. I have even more of a reason now that I'm seeing you like this. How did you get sick?"

Lynette started coughing, and it didn't seem to let up. It continued for a minute, and she reached over to grab some water. Lyney rushed forward and held up the glass of water to his sister so she could drink properly. When Lynette finished drinking, she sighed quietly. Her breathing quickened, almost like she was struggling to catch her breath. Lyney shushed her quietly, and brushed her bangs out of her face. "Rest up Lynette. You don't have to worry about the show tonight."

Lynette sighed again. She smiled a bit, then coughed a little. "That's a relief," she said softly. "Thank you, Lumine. It means a lot to me. And don't worry Paimon, I'll recover soon."

Lumine just nodded in response. She was glad to help the twins out, and their gratitude was enough of a reward for her. Besides, she'd be getting experience in something new too.

"Good! Then we hope you feel better Lynette!" Paimon smiled as she floated around. "Paimon will even bring you a bunch of tasty snacks when we're done with the show!"

"Thank you."

"In that case," Lyney started pushing Lumine towards the door, "let's get going. We have a lot to prepare!"

Lumine was surprised when she was suddenly pushed out. The last time Lyney was relaxed like this was before that trial. Lumine was glad to see him at ease again. Even if she still held her own reservations about the whole thing. But Lyney's magic shows always went well—and it was clear that he didn't have anything against her—so Lumine really had nothing to worry about.

"L-Lyney," Lumine finally managed to say something when they were finally outside of the house. "What exactly do we need to prepare?"

"Yeah! Paimon thinks you pushed us out so fast! Paimon didn't even get to ask what Lynette wants as a snack!"

"It's a big show," he explained. "So we have to go over all the tricks to make sure everything goes perfectly. Especially the last one. Either way, we have to go to the opera house immediately! That's where I'll explain the tricks, and we can practice. And Paimon?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry, but you're going to have to sit this one out."

"WHAT?" Paimon exclaimed loudly and floated closer to Lyney. "Lyney! How come Paimon isn't allowed to watch?"

"Well, because you're not in the show." Lyney stuck his tongue out a little and winked at Paimon. "And a magician never tells his secrets."

Lumine laughed a little bit. "And Paimon, you're not very good at keeping secrets."

"You too? Ugh, Traveler, you're supposed to be on Paimon's side here!"

"I'm only telling you the truth, Paimon."

"Well, fine! Paimon will just eat snacks at the café, and spend all of your Mora! Hmph!"

Lumine sighed lightly. Leave it to Paimon to threaten doing something like that. But if this was one of Lyney's rules, it wasn't like they could go against that and break them. There was a reason that Lyney only wanted Paimon to watch the final performance, and Lumine couldn't blame him for that. Lumine looked at Paimon. "Paimon, how about you go look at another one of those detective novels while you wait? I'm sure there's one you haven't read yet. Oh, and don't spoil the ending for me this time."

"What? Paimon would never! I mean except that one time, but it was only one time!" Paimon waited for a momentn and then huffed. She crossed her arms, turned away, and then glanced at Lumine. "Fine! But you can't get upset if Paimon accidentally ruins the end for you. It's what you get for leaving Paimon out of this."

"Okay, fine, I guess I deserve that. Thank you Paimon."

Paimon grumbled and started floating away. Once she was gone, Lumine looked at Lyney. She was a little nervous to be alone with him to practice all of this, but it was what she agreed to after all. Besides, she would never want any of Lyney's shows to disappoint the audience. Lumine fiddled with her scarf for the first time in a very long time—she hadn't felt this nervous in a very long time. Leave it to Lyney to make her feel nervous like this. And Lumine was never nervous about being quiet, but she couldn't help but want to fill this silence between them. 

"Well?" Lyney tipped his hat towards Lumine with a smile. "Shall we?"

Lumine nodded, and followed Lyney towards the opera house. Lumine couldn't get out of her own head. Why did it seem like Lyney was the only one that was completely at ease in this situation? She didn't get it. Was Lyney just this carefree all the time? She knew that he seemed a little nervous earlier, so why was that suddenly gone? Lumine decided to put it out of her mind while they worked on the rehearsal for the show.

It didn't take Lumine a long time to get a handle on all of the basic tricks. It looked like a lot of the show was being altered to make up for Lynette's absence. Lumine just needed to help with a couple things until the grand finale. That was the one that she needed to be the star of. The water tank escape that no one else wanted to attempt in the place of Lynette.

Lumine looked at the glass box in front of her. It seemed harmless enough, but that was before it was filled with water. And before Lumine was inside of it.

"I take it you're a little nervous?"

Lumine frowned at Lyney. "Nervous is an understatement. I see why no one else wants to take Lynette's place."

"Are you having second thoughts?"

Lumine shook her head. She was not the type of person to go back on her word. "No. I'm alright. What harm can a little tank of water do, right?"

Lyney laughed. "Exactly! But to put your mind at ease, we'll practice the trick with an empty tank first."

“Aren’t you going to tell me how the trick works first?”

“But of course!” Lyney winked at Lumine, and she swore that she felt her heart stop for a moment. Maybe… Lyney wasn’t so bad, even if he was Fatui. And why would Lyney’s status as a Fatui even matter in the first place? Lumine gets along well enough with Childe and Scaramouche. But those two were just friends to her, and the latter is ex-Fatui, with a new name and everything. With Lyney, Lumine thought they could be something more than simple friends. But when was anything truly simple in this world, or in any world?

“Lumine? Lumine, are you listening to me? Honestly, you’re acting like Lynette when she’s in low-power mode. Did you hear a single thing I said?”

“Oh, sorry Lyney, I just have a lot on my mind.” Lumine scratches the back of her neck. “Would you mind going over it with me again?”

“Alright, but you’d better pay attention this time. Even though this box looks big, there isn’t a lot of space inside. This is because there is a one-way mirror dividing it in two. When the box is positioned at just the right angle, the hinge that the mirror sits on is hidden from the audience. You’ll be in front of the mirror when the trick starts. On my cue, the water will bubble and hide you from view. During those few seconds, you’ll flip the mirror and go to the other side. A small compartment will drain the water off stage, and you’ll be able to escape through there as well. But before you get out of there, you have to lock the mirror in place. Lynette and I have done this trick before, but I wanted to do a new variation of it this time. Instead of your clothes being left behind—” Lumine noticed the faint blush that appeared on Lyney’s face “—you’ll disappear completely, leaving the audience to wonder where in the world you vanished to. I’ll wait for the suspense to build, and then in that time, you’ll use our tunnel system to appear behind the audience. Sound simple enough?”

Lumine was quiet as she took in all the information given to her. It actually didn’t seem that impossible once Lyney explained it all to her. She only wished that she could see it for the first time as a member of the audience. At least there would be other shows for her to watch and enjoy in the future. For now, Lumine would focus on being a member of Lyney’s magic troupe. There really wasn’t much else for her to do aside from practice for that big finale.

After a little bit of time, Lumine nodded. “Yes, that sounds simple enough.”

“Perfect! In that case, let’s get on with the rehearsal!”

It was a little nerve wracking at first, but attempting the trick in an empty tank helped ease Lumine into it. It definitely wasn’t as scary, and it showed her just how simple the trick was. There wasn’t anything too crazy about it. Well, of course, the most complicated part of it would be doing it all while submerged underwater, but Lumine was sure that she would be able to do it.

“Okay,” Lyney stood close to Lumine as they filled the tank up with water. “We’ll have to do this a couple times with the water so you can get used to it. I’ll be right here with you this first time. Then we’ll have to do it a couple times just like we will tonight. Are you ready?”

Lumine mounted the box while Lyney gave her another explanation. “For the show tonight, we’ll wait to reveal the tank until you’re sitting on top of it, so don’t worry about how you’re getting up there. I’ll make sure no one sees.”

“No one sees what?”

“Well, a magician and his assistant want to be graceful with their tricks. We wouldn’t want any mishaps while you’re getting up there.”

Lumine looked down at Lyney and shot him a playful glare. “And what is that supposed to mean, Mr. Great Magician?”

Lyney’s face turned red as he stammered an explanation. “W-well, not that you’re not graceful, Lumine, I, I never meant to say something like that! Of course you’re graceful, n-no matter what!”

“Relax Lyney, I’m teasing you.”

“Lumine! You can’t do that! I can’t believe you’re like this.”

“You should feel lucky,” Lumine laughed a bit. “Normally I only tease Paimon like this.”

“And no one would ever think that you’re like this since you’re so quiet all the time.”

Lumine laughed a little in response. “So I’ve been told. I did say you should feel lucky.”

“I’ll consider myself just that. Lucky that the famous Traveler with golden hair should consider me so close as to share this side of her with me.” As Lyney said this, Lumine noticed a Rainbow Rose on her wrist. Lyney wasn’t Lyney if he didn’t perform at least one trick for Lumine with one of those flowers. As Lumine looked at the rose, she noticed Lyney get closer to her. He climbed up on the box as well, but he looked like he was moments from falling off of the edge. “Okay Lumine. It may be a little disorienting at first, but remember everything you did when the tank was empty. Hold your breath, and try not to get too anxious. We’ll leave the lid open this first time, but the trick does have to be done with it closed. But we won’t attempt that until the next time.”

Lumine nodded, then slowly eased herself into the water. It was uncomfortable getting soaked in her clothes, but it wouldn’t be the first time. Even though it wasn’t her first time getting into water like this, it was her first time being in such an enclosed space with seemingly no way out. She paused and kept her head above water for a few moments, then took a deep breath and submerged herself completely. The world around her went silent as the water in the tank took hold of her. Lumine felt her heartbeat quicken and willed herself to calm down. She already knew why no one else in Lyney’s troupe wanted to volunteer for this, but actually experiencing it only solidified it for her. Not many people would willingly put themselves in this situation, especially if something could go wrong. Lumine shook her head at the thought. Nothing was going to go wrong with the show. Even if she was unsure about where her relationship with Lyney stood, she knew without a doubt that his magic shows always went smoothly. There was nothing to be worried about. She just had to wait for a few more moments as she imagined the whole speech Lyney would go through.

A thump on the glass reverberated through her entire body. Lumine looked around until her eyes landed on Lyney. His face was distorted through the water and glass, and it was a slight tint of blue. He looked at her through the glass, and his voice sounded distorted and muffled to her submerged ears.

“Are you okay?”

It took Lumine a moment to process what Lyney asked. Yes, she was fine. Her lungs weren’t burning, and she felt fine at the moment. She nodded, and Lyney immediately rewarded her with a smile. It wasn’t one of his stage smiles, no. This smile seemed genuine and without a single lie or secret hidden behind it. “Good. You’ll have to stay like this for a bit, but go ahead and get out. Just like we practiced. Fair warning, it may feel different trying to push that mirror aside while you’re submerged. If you’re having trouble, go back up to the surface and we’ll try again.”

Lumine had a little difficulty hearing all of Lyney’s instructions, but she understood the gist of it: get out. She leaned back against the mirror and quickly discovered that there was more resistance moving it than she had anticipated. Lumine was determined not to come up for air so soon, and it took her about a minute to push the mirror out of the way. She reached down towards the bottom of the tank to lock it in place, then opened the small compartment to let herself out. It was a little bit of a squeeze, but Lumine slipped through the compartment and landed on the floor below with a roll. She took a moment there to catch her breath, then looked around for the entrance to the underground passage.

“Wait, wait, Lumine, hold on!”

Lumine felt someone’s hands take hold of hers. She looked down, and immediately recognized the gloves.

“Lyney…”

“That’s my name,” he said with a smile. Lyney gently took hold of Lumine’s chin and lifted her face. She looked at him with wide eyes—it looked like all that maneuvering underwater took a little more out of her than she thought. Lyney smiled at her, then petted her head. “Lumine, are you sure you’re alright?”

She nodded, then stepped away from Lyney. Lumine didn’t like just how warm her face felt. Lumine hesitated, then nodded again. “Yes, I’m okay.”

“Alright, we’ll take a break here. I know the trick isn’t easy, but we will have to practice it a few more times before showtime.”

Lumine glanced at Lyney, then looked away again. She didn’t like how her heart skipped a beat at his concern. Surely this was nothing new, right? She already had an idea of what kind of person Lyney was, and just how much of a caring person he was. Lumine tried to keep her mind in her head instead of allowing her heart to take over. She wasn’t ready to face these growing feelings yet. She had other things to focus on, and one of those was the show for that night.

Lumine saw that Lyney’s hand was outstretched toward her; she didn’t take long to grab hold. In that moment, something shifted between them, and Lumine felt much more at ease around Lyney than before. Lyney draped a towel around Lumine, making her laugh lightly.

“What?” Lyney looked at her with a confused expression.

“I was going to use anemo to dry myself off, but I appreciate the gesture.”

“Anemo? You don’t even have a Vision.”

Lumine stood up and wrapped the towel around herself. She smiled sheepishly at Lyney. “I don’t need one.”

“You what?!”

Lumine laughed lightly again and stepped closer to Lyney. Now that she was closer to him, she noticed the flush on his face, and how the tips of his ears turned a little red. It was endearing… and very cute. Lumine kept smiling, and didn’t give Lyney an answer when he asked.

“That will just be my little secret,” she said. For a moment, she wondered how Lyney would react if he knew that she was not from this world. She was sure that it wouldn’t be a bad reaction, but not many people knew this about her—only that she was a traveler.

Lumine guided Lyney to move on from the subject, and they moved from the stage to enjoy a quick break. Lyney guided her backstage to where the rest of his troupe was making a couple more preparations. He took a seat on the ground, and patted the spot next to him a few times—it was clear that he wanted Lumine to sit next to him, and Lumine happily complied. Once she was sitting, she used the towel to start drying her hair. Even though she said that she could use the anemo element, she was touched by Lyney’s earlier gesture and decided to put it to good use. Besides, she would be getting in the tank again soon enough, so there wasn’t much of a point in drying off fully. She’d save that for the show.

Lyney laid out a spread of many desserts and other treats in front of the two of them. There were a few rainbow roses scattered about, and Lumine glanced at Lyney before looking at it all.

“Lyney, what is all of this?”

Lyney laughed nervously and adjusted the positions of a few desserts. “Well, I packed what I usually do for snacks. Lynette loves her sweets, so I didn’t think twice when I got everything ready. Is it to your liking?”

“It looks delicious. I’m sure Paimon would die if she saw us enjoying all of this without her.”

“Well, she is eating at a café and using up all of your mora. I think this makes up for it at least a little.”

Lumine leaned forward and picked up a slice of chocolate cake, brushing against Lyney slightly in the process. The towel slipped off of her right shoulder, then fell off completely. Lumine normally wasn't one to get embarrassed about her outfit, but that didn’t stop her cheeks from turning a light shade of pink. “Ah, sorry.”

“Please don’t apologize. Here,” Lyney picked up the towel and draped it over Lumine’s shoulders again. “You’ll get cold if you don’t dry off.”

As Lyney adjusted the towel, Lumine felt the urge to lean into him for warmth. His Pyro Vision allowed him to be warmer than the average person in Teyvat after all. She was sure he would be a personal heater for her if she asked. Lumine quickly muttered her thanks to Lyney as she took a bite of her cake. This was no time to be thinking like that. It was too fast to be thinking like that anyways. Earlier that day, she had been ready to run away from any conversation from Lyney, and now she was blushing at every kind thing he did for her? She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Besides, she didn’t want things to hold her down on this world. She wanted to finally find her brother again and leave together. That was what she always wanted—what she still wanted.

Right?

Lumine was quiet as she finally took a bite of the cake. It wasn’t very sweet, but it still satisfied her sweet tooth. She must have had an interesting look on her face, because Lyney started laughing. It wasn’t one of his haughty show laughs, no. This was more innocent, like the laugh of a child that was enjoying fireworks at a festival for the first time. It was a kind of laugh that she had never heard from Lyney before, and she felt like she was seeing another side of him today—a side that she really liked.

“Lumine, are you okay?”

Lumine blinked and realized that she had been staring at Lyney this whole time. Her face heated up a bit more, and she quickly nodded. “Yes, I’m okay. The cake is very nice.”

Lyney gave her a bright smile. “I’m glad. But Traveler,” he leaned closer to Lumine. “Aren’t you going to give me a taste?”

“Oh,” Lumine tried to set her fork and the cake down, and stopped when Lyney grabbed her wrist. Lumine almost attempted to pull her wrist out of his grasp, but she was so shocked that she couldn’t get her body to react. “Lyney… what are you…?”

Lyney looked away from Lumine and had a faint blush on his face. After what seemed to be a moment of hesitation, Lyney closed the distance between them. Lumine felt him gently press his lips against hers, and Lumine couldn’t do anything to stop him. Well, she could if she really wanted to, but Lumine found herself perfectly happily to let this kiss run its course. She followed Lyney’s lead as he deepened the kiss between him and she allowed his tongue to explore and taste any remnant of the cake left. Lumine slowly closed her eyes and lost herself in the moment. Even though the kiss is intense, she could tell that Lyney was being gentle with her. Her mind kept drifting as she returned the kiss. She wondered how long Lyney felt like this—how long he had been waiting to have a moment all to themselves to do this sort of thing. Lumine didn’t know if she would have been so receptive to it if he tried any sooner.

Lumine was still in shock when Lyney pulled away and brushed his hand through her hair. Immediately after, his face turned red and he looked away from her. Lumine glanced away as well, and she held her hand up to her lips. She unintentionally pulled the towel tighter around her.

“You’re right.” Lumine kept her head down while Lyney spoke to her. “That cake is really good. Lumine, would you let this magician steal another taste?”

Lumine giggled and looked up at Lyney. Although his face was red, he was looking at her with quite the smile—a smile that did nothing for the blush on her face. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to indulge in something like this during her time on this world. Lumine nodded, and Lyney kissed her again. It was gentle, but Lumine could tell that there was passion bubbling beneath the surface.

Lumine let the kiss continue for a little longer, and then she pulled away. She put her hand on Lyney’s cheek and rubbed her thumb back and forth on it. She wasn’t sure exactly what to day, so she let them sit in silence for a little bit.

“Alright, I suppose that’s enough of a break for now,” Lyney said with a laugh. “We’ll get back to rehearsal.”

“What about…?”

“What just happened?” Lyney clapped his hands together in front of his face and winked at Lumine. “Can we talk about that after the magic show? I want to show you something. And… I think that kiss can serve as my confession for now.”

Lumine sighed and gave Lyney a small frown. “Alright. We’ll talk about it after the show.”

“You look lovely.”

Lumine looked at her reflection. She wasn’t wearing her normal clothes—instead she was wearing something similar to Lynette’s clothing. It had a few tweaks in it so she could feel more comfortable in it. Lumine glanced back to look at Lyney, who had just complimented her. She can’t remember if she ever wore black like this, so she was a little doubtful.

“You’re not just saying that, are you?”

Lyney shook his head, and took a step closer. “Of course not. I’m being completely honest.”

“How can I trust you? You always have a way with words.”

“It’s part of my job, but Lumine,” Lyney placed his hand on Lumine’s cheek, “I promise I won’t lie to you again. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you.”

“Does that mean you’ll still hide things?”

Lyney was quiet and didn’t answer for a long time. “I… can’t promise that I won’t hide a single thing. But I promise that I’ll only do it if it’s absolutely necessary to protect my family. Can you try to understand that?”

Lumine could understand. She would be crazy if she didn’t understand Lyney’s feelings towards his family. Especially since she was on this entire journey to find her brother. Lumine waited a moment, then nodded. She placed her hand over Lyney’s and smiled at him. “You wish to protect your family,” she said, “and I will never fault you for that.”

Lyney leaned forward and kissed Lumine again. Lumine smiled and pushed him away playfully. “You’re being very cuddly with me. I thought we were supposed to be getting ready for the show?”

“It’s because you’ve been so nice to me. I have to thank you in some way.”

“And what about talking after the show is over?”

“Those plans haven’t changed, but I wanted to do something right now.”

“Lyney.” Someone from Lyney’s troupe entered the room, and Lyney lowered his hand from Lumine’s face. Even though he did this, he kept holding her hand. The troupe member looked between Lyney and Lumine, then continued with what he was there for. “The show is scheduled to start soon. You should speak with some of the organizers.”

Lyney nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right there.” Lyney turned to Lumine and bowed to her. “I’ll see you once more before the show starts, but you should go to the wings. I will meet you there when I’m done.” Lyney winked at Lumine, and left the dressing room without saying another word.

Once she was alone, Lumine tried to focus and not get too nervous about the upcoming performance. She shared the role of assistant with most of Lyney’s troupe, but the big finale was all in her hands. She needed to make sure it went off flawlessly. She didn’t need to be nervous. Nothing was going to go wrong. Lumine looked at her reflection again, then left the dressing room. Like Lyney said, she needed to go to the wings and be ready for the performance.

Lumine left the dressing room, and waited for Lyney in the designated area. She waited by the curtains and tried peeking out as people trickled in. She could see Paimon at her reserved seat next to a very familiar figure—the Chief Justice of Fontaine. Neuvillette always stood out, especially when he was simply sitting and getting ready for the show. Seeing the two of them together reminded Lumine of the first time she watched the twins’ magic show—as well as the tragedy that followed. She shook her head. Lumine didn’t need to think about that now; it was only going to make her more nervous if she did. Lumine wasn’t used to this sort of thing. She was better at fighting off monsters, not performing in magic shows. She almost regretted agreeing to do this in the first place.

“Lumine?”

She looked up at the sound of her name, and saw Lyney standing there in front of her. It was obvious that he was a little worried, but Lumine tried to give him a reassuring smile. Lyney stepped forward and his fingers brushed against hers. He lifted up her hand and kissed it.

“Are you alright?”

Lumine nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“The performance?” After Lumine nodded, Lyney smiled. “I know the feeling. It happened to Lynette and I when we first started performing. Though, not many people know that about us. Just focus on how much we practiced today, and everything will be fine. It will be a perfect performance, I promise. You did the trick perfectly during rehearsal today, you can do it again. Take a deep breath, and just focus on me when you’re feeling nervous. I’ll be there the whole time.”

Lumine smiled at Lyney. This moment between them had helped calm her nerves. Even though she only had a day of practice, Lumine knew how this last trick worked. “Thank you, Lyney.”

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to tonight’s magic show! Prepare yourselves for an evening of magic and intrigue! I’m sure you all heard that my poor sister fell ill and won’t be performing tonight, but do not be disappointed my dear audience, for we have a special guest assisting me tonight. You all know her as the traveler, a hero who has solved crises in other nations before gracing us Fontanians with her presence. Everyone, please welcome Lumine!”

Lumine watched from the wings as Lyney gestured to her, and she finally made her way to the stage. The lights that shined down on her were so bright that they could blind her. And they felt very warm. So warm that she was starting to get even more nervous. She almost lost her way, but Lyney met her halfway and guided her to the center of the stage.

“Lumine will be my assistant for tonight’s show, as part of our big finale! It’s something you definitely won’t want to miss, dearest ladies and gentlemen, so be patient with us! We hope you’ll enjoy our night of mystery and magic! Ons y commence!”

Lumine followed Lyney’s movements, and gestured out to the side only a mere second after he did. Lyney twirls her around before addressing the audience again. Lumine noticed that following Lyney’s movements was incredibly easy for her, like they had a synergy that wasn’t there before. The last time she felt something like this was when she fought alongside her brother all those years ago. However, even though it felt similar, it was far from being the same experience as with Aether. Doing this with Lyney felt a little more intimate than that.

“As always, our shows begin by turning in our Visions. No show is truly magical if you think that the power of the Seven is behind it. As you just saw, our dear Traveler does not have a Vision. It’s a very impressive find after hearing about all her accomplishments, no? That being said,” Lyney had Lumine face him, and he made a big show of handing her his Vision. “Lumine will go ahead and take my Vision and hand it off to the stagehand right over there.”

Lumine looked to her left, where she had walked on stage from, and saw a man walk on stage. His hand was outstretched towards her. Lumine walked towards him and handed him Lyney’s Vision. She followed the stagehand offstage until it was her turn to assist Lyney again.

She watched as the magic show went according to plan. All of the tricks were executed perfectly, and the crowd was amazed—if not a little disappointed that Lynette was not part of the spectacle. It seemed that the young woman with cat ears had gained quite the following for herself. Lyney was skilled at being in charge of the magic show, no matter who was assisting him, and Lumine noticed that he kept stealing glances at her as he pulled off trick after trick. Even though Lumine was technically part of the show—not to mention she knew the secrets behind some of the tricks—she was still amazed by it. Seeing all the tricks get pulled off flawlessly one after the other was still something to be acknowledged.

Lumine looked out to the crowd as well. She carefully watched as Neuvillette and Paimon discussed what was going on. Lumine smiled to herself—if she knew Paimon, the conversation was likely about how the magic worked in the first place. Though it did seem like Neuvillette didn’t want to know the secrets behind it.

Lumine looked back to the stage and started to focus on the show again. She could tell it was almost her turn, and she was starting to get nervous again. Lumine was able to calm herself by thinking back to Lyney’s words. She just needed to focus on him. After the day they had, she knew that Lyney wouldn’t let any harm come to her, no matter what.

“And now, we’ll go into a brief intermission right before our grand finale! This is quite the trick, so we do need just a bit more time to set it up. Oh but I promise it will be worth the wait! All of you have been waiting for this moment since the beginning of the show, I bet.” Lyney smiled at the audience’s laughter, and the lights dimmed. Lumine watched as he exited the stage. Even as he left the stage, he kept smiling and waving at his audience. 

Lyney immediately approached Lumine and flashed her his signature smile. Lumine thought that he wanted to say something, but Lyney stayed quiet and placed his hands on her shoulders. He paused, almost like he was preparing himself for what he was going to say, and finally spoke. “It’s almost your time to shine,” he said, “all your practice today will pay off. Just relax, and do what you’ve done plenty of times by now.”

Lumine nodded. She knew what she had to do, and now she just had to do it. She looked out towards the stage again. The curtains were closed as part of the intermission and to let the magic troupe set up the last trick. The water tank was brought to the middle of the stage and set up properly. It was filled up to the top with water as the chattering of the audience grew more intense. It sounded like they couldn’t wait any longer for the final act. Lumine waited patiently while the tank was filled with water.

Lumine took a deep breath. She knew exactly what she was supposed to do, and even though there were many people in attendance, she was feeling a lot more confident than before. She had practiced enough—it would be fine.

Lyney led her to the water tank, and she climbed up just as she had multiple times before. She sat on the edge of the water tank, but Lyney stopped her before she went further. “We’ll start announcing everything before you get inside,” he said. “I want the audience to see the moment that we lock you inside. It makes your escape that much more amazing.”

Lumine nodded again and looked down at the water beneath her—water that would soon envelop her completely. She could hear the whispers and chattering of the crowd a lot more now than when she was backstage. This all made it feel more real than before. She was really part of a performance in front of this huge audience. Lumine looked at Lyney and matched his smile. “I only hope that I’ll manage to satisfy the audience like Lynette does.”

“Of course you will. You’ll be great. Now, are you ready?”

After Lumine nodded, all the lights went out again while the curtain opened. The crowd immediately fell silent as they waited for the grand finale of this unique magic show. Lumine adjusted her position on the edge of the tank so she could get a little more comfortable, even though it wouldn’t be for long. Lumine watched as Lyney walked towards the middle of the stage. He looked at someone offstage and signaled for the lights to turn on. The spotlight immediately turned on, blinding Lumine for just a moment. She squinted at first, then was able to get adjusted to the light. She decided to look down at Lyney just as he spread his arms wide and started speaking to the audience.

“Thank you, my dear audience, for your patience! This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for, I’m sure. My lovely assistant for the night, Lumine, is the one helping me with our grand finale: the treacherous water escape! As you can see,” Lyney started walking towards Lumine, “the Traveler is sitting on top of this full water tank. And as I’m sure you can see, there isn’t any escape. Lumine will be getting out through magic alone!”

Lyney looked at Lumine, and she immediately knew what to do. She took a deep breath in, and jumped into the water. As she floated in the water, she looked around and could see the warped figures of the audience. Lyney’s voice was muffled just as before, and Lumine could barely pick up what he was saying. She smiled at the audience, and waved in what she thought was Paimon’s direction. Lumine watched for Lyney’s signal, now a lot more difficult to see because of the lights that shined on them. Maybe they should have practiced that section more, but they were out of time by that point in the day.

Lyney’s voice almost sounded the same as it had during their practice—or rather, the pauses were the same. Lumine couldn’t recognize what exactly he was saying, but she knew that much.

Once Lyney gave the small signal, bubbles came up from the bottom of the tank, blocking Lumine from view. She did the exact same she did during practice. Lumine quickly lowered herself to the bottom of the tank, then pushed on the panel. She didn’t know if the panel was weighed down differently, or if she was tired from earlier, but something didn’t seem right. No matter how much she pushed on it, the panel didn’t move! Lumine pushed into it more, then hit the panel, but nothing she did ended up working! Nothing she did seemed to work.

The bubbles were now even clouding her field of vision, and Lumine could barely keep her eyes open anymore. It was hard to stop herself from calling out. If she did, then she wouldn’t be able to take another breath in. Lumine looked at where the switch was supposed to be, but there was no way to access it from her side. It looked like the switch could only lock the mirror in place once the assistant was on the other side. Lumine tried to push the panel again, but she didn’t have enough energy. Her lungs burned, and she could feel her throat constrict in the still water around her. Lumine tried to orient herself, but it didn’t seem to work. She couldn’t remember which way she was facing. Was Lyney to the left, or was he to the right? Was she even right side up? No, she would know if she was upside down at this point. Or at least, that’s what she thought. She couldn’t be completely sure at this point.

As the bubbles started to die down, Lumine started to worry more. Time was running out for the end of the trick, and there was no way for her to get out. She couldn’t do anything else at this point. Lumine felt herself growing weak, and she tried one last time to find out where Lyney was standing, then gave up and started hitting the glass. Her body started convulsing from the lack of air, and she could see black starting to creep in the corners of her field of vision. Lumine turned to another side of the tank and banged on it one more time. She tried shouting for Lyney, but all that got her was a mouthful of water. She made a mistake and tried to breathe in, which only resulted in the first drops of water infiltrating her lungs. Lumine’s body instinctively tried to cough, but nothing came from it other than the inhalation of more water. She wanted to cry out for Lyney, but she couldn’t do anything else. Her body tried to take in oxygen that wasn’t there, and she felt an overwhelming sense of dread as it only resulted in more breathless pain. Water filled her lungs, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it, if she was even registering that fact at all. Lumine could only feel the pain of her body needing something she couldn’t get.

Lumine’s sight finally began to fade to black as her body stopped convulsing. She could feel bits and pieces of movement in parts of her body, but it all felt far away—like she wasn’t even in her body in the first place. Her last thoughts went back to Aether. How she wished she could have seen him again. Maybe they would have been able to finally travel to another world instead of being stranded on this one. She wondered what Lyney was going to tell her.

Would she find out in another life?

Lyney had a feeling that something was going wrong. At first, he thought it was just some nerves that had gotten to Lumine, and he tried to distract the audience and prolong the sequence of bubbles—much like they did during their first performance at the opera house. Even though he was innocently trying to help in the trick, he realized too late that he wasted precious minutes. He heard the banging on the glass and realized that this wasn’t just a fluke. Something was seriously wrong.

Lyney stepped back for a moment in shock, and then he rushed forward, magic show and performance be damned. “Lumine!” Lyney yelled, trying to see through the bubbles. Lyney climbed on top of the box and pulled at the lid. Even though he was fueled by adrenaline to save her, the lid was still too heavy to lift up on his own. There wasn’t any seal that he could remember to prevent them from opening the lid in an emergency—he had carefully planned just in case anything went wrong. Lyney pushed any lingering thoughts to the side while he continued to try and lift the lid.

He barely recognized when the rest of his troupe came forward to try and help. Maybe they were all too shocked to come forward faster. They had practiced this the entire day, and nothing even close to this had happened before. Lyney was pulled back, and heard a voice speak to him, even though it was faint. Even with all their efforts combined, the lid of the tank refused to move.

“Stand back.”

Lyney looked up and saw Chief Justice Neuvillette towards them all. The rest of Lyney’s troupe got off the box, and Lyney did the same a couple seconds later. By this time, the water had stilled, and Lumine’s body was floating. The entire opera house was silent, and Lyney could only watch as the Iudex of Fontaine took charge of the situation.

Lyney watched helplessly as Neuvillette held a hand out. The water inside the tank started swirling around, and it looked like it was increasing in speed around Lumine. When Lyney looked closer, the increasing speed and pressure didn’t seem to be affecting her at all. The water glowed with whatever power Neuvillette held over it as he increased the speed and pressure.

As Neuvillette worked, Lyney looked frantically between him and Lumine inside of the tank. Lyney could tell that the Iudex was working quickly, but he knew that they were losing time. Lumine wouldn’t be able to hold her breath much longer, if she could still do so. Lyney watched as the pressure built up inside of the tank. The water looked like it was creating multiple mini tsunamis to crash against the four walls of the tank. The first time the waves crashed against the walls of the tank, they cracked the glass. The second time, the waves broke the glass and water rushed out.

Lyney immediately ran to Lumine once she was free from the confines of the tank. Her skin was cold and deathly pale, and he couldn’t tell if she was breathing. His hands were shaking, and Lyney didn’t think that he could see straight. How could he let this happen? He thought he had gone through everything! And to top it all off, Lyney didn’t know how to help. He had never felt this helpless, not even in the time before he started working for the Fatui. Lyney frantically turned back to Neuvillette. Surely he knew how to help with this! “Help! She’s not—”

“I know, allow me.”

To Lyney’s surprise, Neuvillette was already knelt down next to him. The Iudex took Lumine from his arms, though Lyney couldn’t quite let go on his own. The stagehands had to pry him away from Lumine’s cold body. Lyney was trembling at this point, and he struggled to look anywhere that wasn’t the Chief Justice and Lumine. But even though he was looking, Lyney truly wasn’t watching. His mind was filled with too many thoughts all at once, and he could hardly focus on a single one. It was like he was frozen, dumbly staring in shock at something he had done. He should have done one more check. He had already checked it plenty of times before, but maybe that one last check would have prevented this all from happening.

“Lyney.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and thought that he recognized that voice. He couldn’t quite place it, but it sounded far away, just like everything else. And why did the world look so blurry? Was there something wrong with his eyesight?

“Lyney!”

The voice sounded much more urgent this time, he could tell that much. It sounded like his ears were padded with cotton, but he could at least tell the difference of the tone. But it sounded strange for that voice to have that emotion in it. He hadn’t heard it in a long time.

Before he knew it—before he was able to recognize it—a hand on his shoulder brought him back to the opera house instead of leaving him in his mind. A hand came from seemingly nowhere and started wiping something wet from his eyes. Something wet? Had he been crying? He must have been. That would explain why his sight didn’t seem right. Lyney looked up at a face that was almost exactly like his own, and once he recognized who it was, he silently chided himself. He wasn’t supposed to show such weakness in front of his sister.

“L-Lynette…?”

He was met with his sister’s smile before she looked away for a moment. He didn’t realize that he had been so far in his thoughts. Lyney was still barely present, but he was guided to the Iudex and Lumine.

Neuvillette was hard at work doing something that Lyney couldn’t quite comprehend in his shocked state, but at long last it made Lumine turn to the side and cough up a concerning amount of water.

“Lumine!” Lyney scooted closer to her and held one of her hands. As he did so, he heard a sigh of relief come from the Chief Justice next to them both. Lyney watched closely to make sure that Lumine was breathing properly. While it was true she was breathing, those breaths were more labored than they should be. Why was she struggling so much? She shouldn’t be struggling this much. Lyney looked at Neuvillette with frantic, wide eyes. Something else needed to be done! “We need to take her to the hospital, or something!”

Lyney’s gaze narrowed when Neuvillette didn’t answer immediately. What was wrong? They needed to hurry up!

“You and I must stay here.” When he finally spoke, it sounded like those words pained the Chief Justice. Lyney noticed when these other people were taking Lumine away, hopefully to the nearest medical center. He stood up to follow—he wasn’t getting an answer after all, and Lyney decided he was going to do as he damn pleased—but Neuvillette’s gloved hand reached out to keep him in place. “Please, Mr. Lyney. We must follow protocol. Lumine is fine for now, but we have another urgent matter at hand. This is the second time something like this has happened during one of your performances; a thorough investigation of the area must be performed.”

“But—” Lyney’s voice died in his throat when he saw a strange expression flash over Neuvillette’s features. He looks down and vision starts getting blurry all over again. It looks like he doesn’t have a choice right now. He has to go along with “procedure” no matter how much he wants to go against it. If he were given the option, he would break his way out and rush to Lumine’s side. Another glance at Neuvillette told him that the Iudex wanted nothing more than to do the same. This was the first time that Lyney has seen him with so much emotion. He was used to the stoic façade that’s displayed to all of Fontaine in the courtroom. After he saw that, Lyney decided to finally give in and go along with this stupid procedure. “Can’t protocol be broken this one time? I would never want anything to happen to Lumine! And I,” his voice breaks, “I can’t believe this happened again.”

“I wish so as well.”

Lyney almost didn’t catch what Neuvillette said. The Iudex’s voice was just above a whisper, and far too quiet for anyone else to hear. If it weren’t for Lynette’s reassuring hand on his shoulder, he probably would have been too far in his thoughts for any sort of conversation. Lyney looked at his sister to see if she heard something, but it looked like she was more concerned with her brother’s wellbeing. But Lyney also didn’t think that he imagined it.

The next time Neuvillette spoke, he was back to the man loved by all of Fontaine. Back to the imposing figure that they all recognized and respected. “It’s quite alright, Mr. Lyney. I’m sure this investigation will not take as long as your previous case.”

Lyney nodded as he felt some kind of comfort in Neuvillette’s words. This wasn’t his fault. It was frustrating to find out that someone decided to sabotage his magic show again but he couldn’t do anything now but wait.

Lyney ran out of the opera house. The investigation was finished, and it was decided that Lyney had nothing to do with the malfunction. The Marechaussee Phantom would open an investigation to find the culprit behind yet another sabotaging of Lyney’s magic shows. To think that the greatest stage in all of Fontaine was where he had the worst luck in his shows.

He knew it was late, but now he knew that he could go to Lumine’s side without issue. He was cleared of suspicion, and now he could finally check on her.

Lyney ran through the streets of Fontaine with only one focus on his mind. He needed to get to the hospital. He needed to make sure that Lumine was okay. He had been detained in the Opera Epiclese for hours, and he had no idea how Lumine was doing. And even if he did, he wouldn’t feel at ease until he saw her with his own two eyes. He just wanted to see her again.

He just wants her to be alive.

Lyney almost couldn’t believe what was happening when he reached the hospital. There was a big crowd in front blocking the path in. This had to be because Lumine was there. Lyney recognized some faces from the audience, but he knew there weren’t this many people at his show. This was like all of Fontaine was waiting to see how this “drama” would play out. He tried to make his way through the crowd, but he could never make it past a few people without getting stuck.

It was then that he was reminded that Lynette was also with him. Had she really followed him all the way here? Lyney felt his sister grab his hand.

“I see a way through.”

Lyney only focused on following Lynette as she guided him through the crowd and to the main entrance. She weaved through the crowd in a way that he couldn’t. Maybe he could have under normal circumstances, but not with the state of panic that he was in. In no time at all, Lynette had guided him to the main entrance. Gardes were standing in front of the door, and it looked like they weren’t going to be letting anyone from this huge crowd through.

“What’s your business here?”

Lyney’s mind was blank. He knew that this would happen once that he made it to the front.

“I…”

“You’re not injured, right? So why are you here?”

“We’re visiting a patient. She’s our friend.”

“We’ve heard that story a lot today. How do we know the patient knows you?”

Neither Lyney or Lynette could find a way to prove it, but that was when Lyney had his first stroke of luck after the magic show. The doors opened behind the garde, and Paimon floated out. “Lyney!”

Lyney breathed a sigh of relief when Paimon showed up. He was still tense, but at least it brought him back to the present instead of frantically overthinking about what Lumine’s fate was. Lyney tried not to look exhausted as he acknowledged Paimon. “…Paimon. How’s Lumine?”

Paimon’s face lost some of its usual joy—not that it had much in the first place. She floated closer to the ground, and her shoulders sagged. She looked away, but had a sad smile on her face when she looked back at Lyney. His stomach dropped as his mind immediately went to the worst possible scenario.

Upon seeing his reaction, Paimon immediately waved her hands in front of her face. “No! No, it’s not that bad. Paimon would rather… Paimon doesn’t want to talk about this here. Let’s go inside.”

They all looked at the garde for confirmation, and he stepped aside to let Lyney and Lynette through. Lyney could hear some people shouting behind him as he and his sister were granted access, but he couldn’t pay attention to what they were saying. He was inside and almost to Lumine. That was his priority.

Lyney almost ran into Paimon, who was floating a lot lower than she normally did. He felt someone looking at him, then turned his head to find Lynette giving him a look. The twins exchanged a glance, and then looked back at Paimon. Lyney tried speaking, but Lynette did it for him.

“Paimon, what is it?”

It was a good thing that Lynette spoke—Lyney didn’t know if he would have been able to or not. He was anxious enough as it was. Lyney narrowed his gaze when Paimon hesitated to answer. Paimon seemed to immediately understand Lyney’s frustration. She floated even lower to the ground and wouldn’t meet either of the twins’ gazes. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. Her voice was quiet as she spoke. “She hasn’t woken up yet.”

Any thoughts Lyney had disappeared the second Paimon told him the news. To say he was shocked would be a complete understatement. He knew it was too much to hope that Lumine would be at least a little okay by now, but having the truth confirmed was another thing entirely.

“I need to see.” Lyney’s voice was strained, and it took all he had to not break down right then and there. He hadn’t even made it to Lumine’s side yet. He could keep it together until then. He was sure he could. Besides, he didn’t want to have Lynette see him break down again—everything that happened at the opera house was enough. When neither Paimon or Lynette responded to him, Lyney snapped. Wasn’t it obvious what they came there for? “Let me see her!”

Paimon held her arms close to her and looked so small at that moment. She had tears in her eyes, and it looked like she was struggling to keep herself from breaking down too. She sniffled loudly, then turned around. Lyney looked down at the ground and immediately felt bad about his outburst.

“Sorry, Paimon,” he muttered.

“It’s okay,” her voice was uncharacteristically quiet. “Paimon knows you didn’t mean it.”

The rest of their walk to Lumine’s room was done in silence. Lyney was still so worried that his usual bravado was gone, Lynette usually kept her thoughts to herself, and Paimon seemed to be just as worried as Lyney. They really were quite the trio of visitors. While he was walking, Lyney didn’t really know if he was lost in thought or simply had too many thoughts that he couldn’t focus on any single one of them. The only thing he knew with certainty was that all of his thoughts were negative. He was scared of what he would see when the little group arrived at Lumine’s room.

Paimon stopped floating forward, and it was thanks to Lynette that Lyney didn’t crash into the floating travel companion. Paimon floated in front of a door, and it looked like she was hesitating. She turned back to face the twins, never meeting their gaze. “They did a lot of tests on her. Paimon was only allowed inside a little bit ago, and then the doctors kicked Paimon out to do more tests.”

Paimon rubbed her eyes, and then covered them. “They didn’t say when the tests would be over. Paimon was in the middle of getting a snack when she saw you.”

“I’m sorry Paimon, I can get you some snacks.”

Lyney looked at Lynette with wide eyes. Why was she going to leave? Sure, he didn’t want her to see him break down again—and he wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to keep it together—but he didn’t think that she would leave him so soon. Lynette met his gaze and stepped closer to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. There was a small smile on her face as she told him she would be right back. Lyney nodded dumbly, and Lynette walked away. Maybe she could tell that her brother was going to need some time. He watched his sister leave, and when her footsteps were gone, silence fell between him and Paimon again.

“Paimon,” Paimon hesitated, “Paimon is going to open the door now.”

“Please.”

Paimon pulled the door open, then floated in. Lyney waited a moment, then followed her in.

“Lumine…” Lyney’s voice cracked when he finally saw the state that Lumine was in. He knew that there was a chance that the doctors would still be running tests, but it looked like those were all over for now.

Lyney immediately ran to Lumine’s side and gently grabbed one of her hands. Lumine’s face was pale, and she looked so fragile. It felt as though she would shatter if he held her the wrong way. This wasn’t right. He had never seen her like this before; he almost didn’t think that it was real. Lyney reached his hand up to touch Lumine’s face, which was when he noticed the tubes around her face. He moved his hand back so as to not disturb the nasal cannula—it was helping Lumine breathe after all. He pulled his hand back. Lumine was like this because of him. Because of his grand plan for them to be on speaking terms again. This was all his fault.

“Lyney?”

The magician looked at Paimon. She still floated low to the ground, and her expression was full of uncertainty—or was that worry?

“Do you want Paimon to leave?”

Before Lyney could even answer, Paimon seemed to have made the decision for herself. She floated out of the room, and quickly mentioned something about her snacks. Was it really so obvious that he needed some time on his own?

Lyney sighed and trembled slightly as he looked down at Lumine again. He couldn’t bring himself to touch her face again, so he settled on simply squeezing her hand. Lyney kneeled by her bedside, and brought Lumine’s hand up to his forehead, almost as a prayer to the Hydro Archon herself.

Please be okay.

Lyney kept gently squeezing Lumine’s hand, and lost track of time as it went by. He would stay like this until he was kicked out. Truthfully, he didn’t even know if he would have the strength to stand up again. Not until he knew she would really be okay.

It took Lyney hours before he moved. This was all because he decided to get Lumine’s help in order to repair their friendship, and even have it turn into something more—he wouldn’t leave her now. He kept waiting, and would keep waiting if it meant that he would still be there when Lumine woke up.

Lyney held Lumine’s hand within his own, and held it up to his forehead. He muttered, “Please be okay. I swear I didn’t know this would happen. If I would have known, I would have cancelled the show and figured out another way to talk to you again. Please… Lumine, please come back to me.”

A small twitch almost caused Lyney to fall out of his seat. Lumine’s fingers had moved! Lyney moved as close as possible to the edge of the bed. “Lumine!”

Lumine’s golden eyes slowly opened, and she blinked a few times before looking around the room. She seemed to tense up for a moment before saying, “...Where?”

“You’re in the hospital in the Court of Fontaine. We brought you here as soon as we got you out of the tank. Do you… do you remember what happened?”

Lumine turned her head to look at Lyne, and she nodded after a couple moments of thought. “Yes… I remember. The panel was stuck, and then…” Lumine trailed off and frowned. “I’m sorry Lyney. I couldn’t help you finish your show.”

“Don’t think about the show right now! And don’t apologize. It’s all my fault that this happened. I’m so, so sorry, Lumine. I just wanted—” Lyney shook his head. He could tell her about his plan that had led up to all of this later. “I’m just so happy you’re awake.”

Lumine smiled at him. Whether she really knew that Lynette’s sickness was just a ploy or not, Lyney didn’t know. But he had a suspicion that she knew—she was always very perceptive.

And seeing her smile at him, that made him sure they would be okay.