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When Lumine woke the next morning, she felt well-rested for the first time in a while. As she slipped out from under the covers, she realised she couldn’t remember the last time she had woken up and not feel exhausted. In fact, she felt so good that she started humming to herself as she got ready for the day ahead.
“Are you feeling better today?” Paimon asked, half-yawning, as she floated over to the dresser. Lumine smiled affectionately and nodded in affirmation. Paimon was always sleepy in the morning but in an endearing sort of way. Lumine pulled open the curtains to let in the daylight though Paimon groaned in protest. Today, she decided, was going to be a good day.
It lasted for about an hour.
As soon as they left their room, they were greeted by a dark-haired knight, who saluted sharply as they jumped in surprise.
“Good morning! I have a message from Vice-Captain Lohen,” the man reported, looking visibly stressed. Paimon and Lumine looked to one another in confusion then back at the man and nodded for him to continue. He was clearly relieved when they did, some of the tension is his posturing loosening. Lumine could just imagine what Lohen had threatened the man with if he was unsuccessful in delivering the message.
“Please meet me in the library after breakfast for our strategy meeting on the upcoming assignment,” the man recited. The knight saluted again, then trotted away, leaving the pair to share another bewildered look.
“Well…” Paimon said, shrugging in a helpless sort of way, “Paimon guesses we can do that.” Lumine swallowed, remembering all too well where she had last seen him less than twelve hours ago.
“I guess we can,” she agreed weakly.
Lohen, Lumine noticed, looked far too pleased with himself when he looked up and saw them approaching his table. He was hidden away in the corner of the library’s downstairs section. She ignored the butterflies in her stomach as his hand firmly closed the book he had been holding, his dark eyes gazing into her very soul. She forced what she hoped was a polite smile as Paimon waved eagerly to him.
“Lohen! You could’ve told us about this meeting yesterday!” she said, floating toward the man as he leaned back in his wooden chair, posture relaxed. He smiled lazily at Paimon.
“It completely slipped my mind,” he replied innocently with a shrug. “Was there an issue with the knight who informed you of it? I can discipline him if he caused you any distress,” he added smoothly, linking his gloved fingers together on the wooden desk covered in papers and books.
“Paimon thought he looked half scared to death! What did you tell him?”
“Nothing interesting that I recall,” he replied evasively. Lumine narrowed her eyes at him as he said it and he matched her gaze, amused. Paimon sighed dramatically and settled down at the table, resting her chin in the palm of her small hand.
“Will this take long?” Paimon asked as Lumine sat down at the table, opposite Lohen. Lohen’s lips twitched in amusement.
“Not at all. We will be finished before lunch.”
“That is long! Paimon just had breakfast!”
“The sooner we begin the sooner we’ll be finished, right?” Lumine interjected, shuffling through some of the papers near her. She was careful to avoid any maps this time. It was best not to give someone like Lohen ammunition to tease her with.
“An excellent idea!” Lohen said in gleeful agreement, sweeping to his feet and approaching the other side of the desk, where Lumine was sitting. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand as he stood behind her, leaning in over her shoulder with a smirk.
“Let’s begin here,” he said, pointing to a map of Dornman Port on the desk, “a fond memory, isn’t it Traveller?” Lumine turned her head to glare at him but it did nothing to deter the smug smile on his face. She sniffed and looked back down at the table, pursing her lips in annoyance.
“Paimon and the Traveller have a ton of fond memories from Dornman Port!” Paimon exclaimed happily, from the other side of Lohen as she saw what he was referencing. Lumine suppressed an exasperated sigh and Lohen’s lips twitched.
“I’m sure we will make many more,” he responded, cryptically side eyeing Lumine again. She pointedly ignored him. Paimon had already accused Lumine of flirting with him, so she had to be careful not to engage with him when her fairy friend was around.
“Paimon hopes so! We’ll be stationed there for a while right?” Lohen reached for a paper under Lumine’s hand and intentionally let his hand linger on hers as he slipped the sheet free.
“A whole week,” Lumine replied, retracting her hand from the table and shooting Lohen a glare.
“Paimon wants to try some restaurants we haven’t gone to yet!”
“We’ll make the time for it,” Lumine said, smiling at Paimon, pointedly ignoring Lohen’s looming presence.
“Paimon, could you ask Lisa to locate the regional map for Stormterror’s lair?” Lohen asked suddenly.
“Paimon is on it!” she replied before Lumine could interrupt. Their corner of the library was eerily silent as Paimon floated away and up the stairs. Lohen leaned over behind Lumine, his cheek brushing her hair as his mouth hovered next to her ear.
“Why so cold Traveller?” he asked, a hand trailing over her exposed shoulder. She shivered at the contact.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said stiffly. Her body was tense under his touch. He chuckled.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you don’t like me. Fortunately, I do know better,” he said, musing. Lumine turned her head to retort but he grabbed her jaw in his hand to keep her head in place as he bit her ear. She gasped quietly as he trailed his tongue down her neck towards her scarf. He clicked his tongue in disapproval, burying his nose in the scarf and inhaling deeply.
“Hiding my gifts to you? I can’t help but think you want more punishment,” he murmured, voice low. Lumine felt her insides curl at his touch and the breathiness in his voice.
“Gifts? And here I thought you were marking your territory,” she retorted, sounding far more annoyed than she felt. Lohen released her jaw and she looked up to see a pleased smile on his face. His dark eyes regarded her hungrily.
“Your words, not mine,” he said quietly, the smile unwavering. He retreated from her personal space, walking back to the other table as if nothing had happened. Lumine felt hot as she stared at him in disbelief.
“Paimon has the map!” Paimon exclaimed as she returned, a large scroll balanced in her small hands.
“Thank you,” Lohen said, smiling at her appreciatively. He glanced up at Lumine who was still half-dazed. “Shall we continue?”
They were three days into their assignment in Dornman Port and the fighting was intense. The town itself was well-defended and secure but the perimeter that the Knights maintained to kept it that way was chaotic. Lumine would spend hours at a time on the field, taking breaks as there was a lull in the fight to eat and rest, before going back into the fray. She was so exhausted when the time to sleep came that she collapsed into her sleeping bag in her and Paimon’s tent and slept until she was woken by the horns.
She worked twelve hours a day, spreading herself thin between the Second and Fifth Companies to lessen the risk of people getting injured or killed. Paimon would coax her into eating before and after her slumbers as well as help with bandaging minor injuries. Lumine barely saw Lohen at all and she hadn’t spoken to him since the morning before they had left for Dornman Port.
He was like her in a way; so wrapped up in the fight that all else blurred to nothingness. During the lulls, she had seen him watching her with an unreadable expression but there had been no space to talk yet.
On the fourth day, Lumine was due back with the Fifth Company so she presented herself after the morning horn at their barracks. The administration team advised her to join a team that was going to the west side of the perimeter, so she lined up with them, Paimon at her side. Paimon would go as far as the strategy tent in the west perimeter and then wait there while Lumine advanced to the front line, for her own safety.
The Knights around them were visibly more energetic and upbeat when Lumine fell in with them. Her presence increased their moods significantly and she breathed deeply to centre herself as she contemplated the weight that the thought added to her shoulders. She flexed her hands and limbs, stretching and loosening them to warm up as everyone stood around idly.
“Paimon didn’t think it would be so bad out here,” Paimon said, yawning and looking around at the rest of the group. Lumine nodded.
“I don’t think anyone realised. I wonder how everyone else is doing,” she replied, pressing her lips together worriedly, thinking about their friends.
Several minutes later, they got the go ahead to proceed so they set out with their group towards today’s assigned location. They hiked over grassy hills along a well-trodden path until they arrived at the area’s strategy tent. Lumine waved goodbye to Paimon as they hovered outside the tent, waiting for further instruction. She spotted Lohen approaching from the other side of the tent and her heart wilted slightly in concern at the obvious fatigue on his face.
While he was only the vice-captain of the Fifth Company officially, with the captain not in attendance, Lohen shouldered all of the combat-related responsibilities that came with an assignment like this. It was clear that regardless of how much he enjoyed battle, the expectations and time spent here were wearing him down.
“I will be joining you all today. Keep your wits about you,” he announced loudly, making sure he could be heard all the way to the back. His gaze met Lumine’s and she gave him a nod of acknowledgement. The group started moving out under the guidance of the team’s leader, letting Lumine lag to the back where she would escape their notice and be able to better mentally prepare for the battle ahead.
Lohen fell into step wordlessly beside her, his arm brushing hers. She didn’t pull away from him, letting their hands continue to brush gently as they walked side by side.
“How bad is it?” she asked, reading his tired, grim expression.
“We don’t have enough resources for the Second Company to be here today. That makes the two of us the garrison. Everyone else in the ranged company is the backup firepower,” he said, smiling confidently, but it looked forced to her. She exhaled heavily.
“Bad,” she reaffirmed, voice low so the others wouldn’t hear. Lohen chuckled darkly.
“Bad,” he echoed, then looked at her with a coy smile, “so don’t slow me down, Honorary Knight.” Despite how awful the situation both looked and sounded, Lumine laughed.
“I couldn’t even if I tried.”
They walked in silence the rest of the way, their hands brushing against each other in silent comfort.
Fortunately, the site of the battle was calm when they arrived. A tired team of soldiers passed them, some carrying melee weapons and others ranged. Lumine grimaced at the thought of her and Lohen being the only two melee fighters to defend the ranged company squad with them. She hoped that it would be an uneventful shift, that perhaps the Abyss’ numbers were faltering, and they didn’t have enough left to launch a sizeable assault against the Knights.
Lohen organised the squad, positioning them further back and in small teams to avoid them getting overwhelmed if anything went wrong. He put himself the furthest out in front and asked Lumine to stay halfway between his position and the ranged squads as a defensive line for them. The Fifth Company’s members bristled nervously under his direction but obeyed without hesitation, their respect outweighing how intimidating they obviously found him.
He looked poignant, standing out there on his own in the front and Lumine forced herself to shake off the fatigue. If you had asked anyone who was the stronger of the two of them, then the Traveller, her, was the clear answer. Despite that, he had put himself in the position without hesitation, trusting her to have his back regardless of what happened.
The hordes of Abyss monsters crested the hill. They looked like a shadow dripping down the landscape as they approached. Lohen summoned his polearm in one hand and his dagger flashed in the other, his stance casual as he waited. The ranged company’s muskets fired from behind Lumine, focusing on the outer edges of the line, leaving Lohen and her to focus on controlling the middle.
Monsters began to fall and once they were only a few metres away from him, Lohen dashed in, fast as an arrowhead. He sliced through the enemies like they were paper, fast and furious in his speed and manoeuvring. Lumine summoned her sword and readied herself as some enemies began to ignore him and started in her direction instead. She felt dread stir in her stomach as the abyssal monsters approached.
This type of battle was starkly different from the intense duels or fights to protect nations that Lumine had experienced before – in those she stood alone or with those who were unbelievably strong and powerful. In a battle like this though, she couldn’t help but worry for the regular soldiers standing behind her, muskets in hand being fired as rapidly as they would allow. The ranged company’s squads made it easier for her to know where to focus, so she would do her best to defend them. She would defend them.
The numbers approaching her thinned as Lohen’s lethal frontline defence and the ranged support had their desired impact. Lumine loosened her grip on the sword, flexing her wrist to loosen it out. Then, she entered the fray, slashing and dashing through the monsters like they were made of paper.
It lasted for hours, Lumine alternating her position as the waves of monsters coming against them ebbed and flowed. In the lulls she had the space to manage the front line with Lohen, the two of them wordlessly filling in each other’s gaps as they fought. It was brutal and intense to the point that Lumine’s muscles ached in protest and her breath came harder and harder. The only guidance she had for how much time had passed was the sun in the sky.
During one lull, Lumine and Lohen overextended on the front line driving the monsters further back than they had been all day.
“We need to get back,” she said, panting.
“We can hold here!” Lohen replied, his eyes glimmering as he gazed at the row of oncoming reinforcements.
“We can, but the squads are too exposed when we are this far up!” She looked back at the squads, concerned, but he wasn’t listening, too focused on the thill of battle. Begrudgingly, she stood with him, worried that he would get overwhelmed without her support. The monsters fell on them, and they made quick work of the melee fighters which were less strong. The other foes were less straightforward.
Lumine dodged a ranged attack from the Abyss Lector, tumbling on the grass. She ducked under the next blast of abyssal energy and slashed the creature in half with her sword. The monster dissolved to dust. Just before she turned her attention to the next enemy, she spotted movement from the corner of her eye.
There was a group of monsters that had abandoned fighting Lohen and Lumine that was instead racing towards the ranged squads. They were firing on the immediate threat but Lumine recognised they couldn’t take them all down before the abyss creatures got into the squads’ melee range. If that happened, they wouldn’t have any way to defend themselves.
“Lohen! Fall back!” she called loudly and, without looking back at him, dashed back to defend the ranged company. She didn’t wait for him or hear a reply, instead hoping he would be okay without her. Lumine sprinted across the gap in the field, weaving between stragglers and cutting them down.
She reached the rogue monsters just in time, skidding to put herself between them and the ranged squad that had been facing down death. She slashed through them with a defensive fury, the fear that had clutched her heart slowly retreating as she stared down at the monsters’ corpses, breathing hard. Awareness seeped back to her, and she glanced up toward the front line, panicking. She couldn’t see Lohen anywhere.
“Cover me!” she called to the squads, eye flashing across the line. She spotted a cluster where monsters were slowly falling and raced in, clearing the monsters that had strayed too far forward. She gritted her teeth as she sliced her way through the throng of enemies, fighting her way towards the falling bodies.
Eventually, she cleared her way to an opening, Lohen at the centre of it. Blood covered the left side of his face, dripping over his closed eye and his uniform was torn in a dozen different places, dirty and stained. Before she could question the intelligence of her decision, Lumine entered the opening and put her back to Lohen’s, sword up defensively as the monsters sized them up.
“So nice of you to join me,” he said, managing to sound cocky despite his laboured breathing. Lumine scoffed.
“We need to get out of here,” she responded, eyes shifting over the task in front of them. Lohen laughed breathily.
“Those are quite the observation skills you have there.” Lumine grunted her annoyance but didn’t get a chance to reply as the monsters closed in on them, wildly swinging their weapons. Slowly, brutally, they managed to make their way back in the direction of the ranged squads, cutting down anything that got too close. They only knew which direction that was because it was weakened from Lumine’s initial approach.
When they broke through into open air they dashed over the grass towards the ranged squads to whoops of victory. Lumine smiled grimly as she spun to face the hordes, just in time to see a blast of abyssal energy aimed at Lohen. She jumped forward, deflecting it with her blade but the force sent her flying back against him, toppling them both. Lumine quickly regained her footing, leaving Lohen momentarily stunned on his back.
She was ready for the next blast. She blocked it again and went in fast, taking down the Abyss Lector, only for another to appear from the side. She barely blocked its attack but as she did, yet another blast hit her in the back of head, sending her mind spinning. She dropped her sword, disoriented, and another blast caught her in the back, shoving her onto the trodden grass.
Blackness seeped into the edges of her vision, and she thought she groaned in pain, but she didn’t hear anything. Her head lolled, eyelids snapping shut.
Lohen leaped to his feet, energy spiking inside him as someone shrieked for the Honorary Knight. He spotted her, lying face down in the grass with two Abyss Lectors closing in. He cursed, gritting his teeth in frustration, and dashed forward, killing one of the beasts. He put his body between the Traveller’s vulnerable body and the remaining enemy.
He was exhausted and completely at his limit but, no matter what happened, he couldn’t let this thing anywhere near her. The monster released a blast of energy at Lohen and he swung forward with his polearm, displacing the attack, stepping in close and catching it unawares with a dagger to its glowing heart. The foul thing disintegrated and Lohen turned to kneel next to the Traveller, rolling her onto her back with a firm hand on her shoulder.
He checked her pulse, his own heart thundering in his chest. The fluttering under his fingers made him sigh shakily in relief. He took a moment to bury his face in his hand, emotions turbulent. Then, he looked up and surveyed his surroundings, analysing the remnants of the battlefield.
The enemy was dying off, the field a mess of corpses and gore. They would disintegrate soon like they always did. For some reason, the weaker monsters took longer to dissipate. His gaze darted downwards as Lumine groaned quietly, her body shifting on the grass. Her eyes opened slightly, wincing at the sun overhead.
“Lohen?” she said weakly, dazed. He smiled wryly down at her, pushing sweat-soaked bangs out of her face.
“That was a bad time for a nap,” he commented. Lumine grumbled, a hand going to her temple as she sat up slowly. She gingerly moved her legs and winced sharply.
“I think my ankle is sprained,” she said, voice tired. Lohen offered her his hand.
“Can you stand?” She nodded and with his support, wobbled to her feet, but she was still grimacing as she put weight on her left leg. Lohen turned his back to her and crouched slightly. Lumine frowned, almost offended.
“I am absolutely not going to get carried back to camp like that,” she said stubbornly. Lohen sighed softly, turning his head to meet her gaze. He grinned.
“It’s either on my back like this or in my arms. I’ll let you pick.” Begrudgingly, Lumine shuffled forward on her good leg and linked her arms around his neck, pressing her upper body against his back. He looped his arms around her legs and stood straight. Lumine buried her face in his neck and her breath tickled his skin, warming the cold sweat from hours of fighting.
“This is so humiliating,” she mumbled into his collar. Lohen laughed.
“Surely it would be more humiliating to be stranded in the wilderness with only one working leg?”
“I wouldn’t be stranded. I would make it back eventually.”
“Relax, Honorary Knight. I’m sure you can control your contempt for me long enough to get back to camp.”
“I don’t hate you,” Lumine murmured. Lohen’s breath caught in his throat. She continued, sulkily, “but I wish I did.” Lohen barked a laugh.
“I’ll take that as a compliment coming from you,” he said, unable to control the smile spread across his face.
“Careful, vice-captain,” Lumine said, voice low and serious but he could hear the smile in her words. “If you keep laughing and smiling like that people will begin to think you’ve gone soft.”
Lumine was moved out of the Dornman Port rotation and the other companies were rearranged to fill the gap she had left. She felt bad about the inconvenience of it all, but she was no help to anyone with a sprained ankle. They sent her back to Mondstadt city early to get it treated by Barbara, accompanied by excessive apologies for letting it happen in the first place.
By the time the Fifth Company returned from Dornman Port, Lumine was able to walk on the ankle again, but had been warned to not do anything strenuous for another couple days. This gave her a lot of time to do nothing as she wasn’t able to train or complete commissions.
It had been boring for the last few days as, despite Paimon’s company, staring at the same four walls all day long could only facilitate so much entertainment. Because of this, Lumine had encouraged Paimon to head out and enjoy her day rather than sitting with Lumine all day again. Paimon had been hesitant initially, but enough encouragement had sent her on her way, promising to bring back some great food later.
Some time after she left, Lumine snuck out of their bedroom and slunk down the hallway towards Lohen’s room. She hadn’t seen him since she had left the camp in Dornman Port, when he had come to see her off despite his own injuries needing attention.
She knocked on the door, heart pounding in her chest. It was still early, and unlikely that he would already be back in his room at this time, but she wanted to see him. She couldn’t explain it but decided it was probably something to do with her days-long boredom. Regardless, when the door actually opened, her breath caught a little. Lohen looked at her with a smile through the crack of the open door, wearing a simple shirt and high-waisted trousers.
“Miss me?” he asked, eyes glimmering in amusement. Blood rushed to Lumine’s face as she realised that was exactly what was happening.
“Can I come in?” she said, ignoring his question. He gladly stepped back and opened the door wider for her to enter, then shut it behind her as she stepped inside.
“How can I assist you today, Honorary Knight?” he said, leaning casually against the closed door, signature sly smile fixed on his lips.
“Thank you,” Lumine said, “I heard what happened when I went down on the battlefield.” Lohen raised an eyebrow.
“You saved my skin first,” he responded. Lumine shook her head.
“I’m still grateful. I should have handled the situation better, but I let exhaustion affect me too much. You saved me.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself.”
She met his eyes, intense. “I have to be. My journey... isn't over yet.”
“If that’s the case, why are you still in Mondstadt anyway?” Lohen asked.
“I’m not ready for Snezhnaya yet… the recent battle shows I was right to think I need to train more first,” she replied, shrugging, expression frustrated. Lohen smiled slyly and leaned forward in interest.
“Is that an offer?” he said, eyes glinting in anticipation. Lumine raised an eyebrow at him.
“Another duel?”
“Why? Are you afraid it will be a repeat of the first?” he said, goading. That made her frown in annoyance.
“No,” she said sharply, “when and where?”
“That’s more like it,” he said with a satisfied grin, “now?” Lohen whipped a leg towards her calves to trip her to the floor, but she lunged at him before his leg reached her, and toppled him to the ground herself. They rolled, grappling with their hands but Lohen pinned her first, her wrists in his hands, straining against him.
“I like seeing you struggle,” he whispered. She gritted her teeth as he leaned forward to her face and pressed a kiss to her mouth, biting her lip teasingly. She let herself gasp against his mouth, kissing back. Then she butted her forehead against his hard, shocking him into loosening his grip on her. She used his surprise as leverage and shoved him off her body, back on the floor. She followed him, landing on top of him and twisting so that she was behind him. She wrapped her legs around his stomach and put his neck in a chokehold, using her other arm to support it.
She felt his neck muscles strain under her grip as he clawed at her arm, but she didn’t release her grip until he tapped her arm twice, surrendering. She loosened her arm, letting him breathe normally and pressed a mocking kiss to his neck as she released her legs from his abdomen.
“I like seeing you struggle,” she said sarcastically against his ear, his hair tickling her face. He chuckled as she wriggled out from under him, rubbing his neck and regarded her with fiery, dark eyes.
“I’ll struggle for you any time,” he said, crawling toward where she sat on the floor next to him. He leaned into her, one hand brushing her collarbone, smirking. Lumine smiled knowingly, flicking his forehead playfully then stood up from the floor. He sat there on the timber floor, looking up at her, the smirk unchanged.
“Meet me at the city gate at noon in two days,” she said, watching him as he stood up and regarded her with hungry eyes.
“You’d make me wait so long?”
“I’m on bedrest for another two days,” she said, shrugging, her hand lingering on the bedroom’s door handle. “Don’t be late.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” he replied, grinning lazily.
Lumine’s lips twitched upwards slightly and she let herself out.