Heirs
"Miss Lumine? Your guests are here."
Lumine's eyes blinked open at the voice, and her room swam into view, blurry and indistinct. She reached out to her side with one fumbling hand to wrap around an object on her bed stand. After a careful moment to ensure her numb fingers had a firm grip enough grip to lift them, she pulled the glasses onto her face.
Vison much improved, she focused her eyes on the source of the voice. Brown hair pulled back with a green hairband, green eyes, green dress cut to a modest length leaving only the arms and ankles bare, green choker, flamboyant crystal earrings. She seemed familiar, but her memories were so hazy…
With the practice of long repetition, Lumine collected another object from her bed stand, a book this time. She flipped rapidly past the first pages, scrawled in Qiqi's neat hand and describing memory exercises the petite zombie had perfected over time, onward to the later pages of the book, notes she had penned herself.
"Ozma," Lumine said slowly to herself as she scanned the relevant passage. "Amy's little girl."
Ozma, still waiting in the doorway, smiled patiently. It was a routine she had repeated with Lumine time and time again. "Not so little anymore, Miss Lumine."
Lumine nodded. Yes, it had been many years. So many years had passed. Ozma had a family of her own now, but still acted as her caretaker. A few scattered memories flashed through Lumine's head, of a precocious and imaginative little girl, then a teen, then a young adult, too fleeting to grasp before they vanished into the haze that dominated her mind now.
Carefully, Lumine sat up, shunting her sheets aside, heedless of the way it exposed her nude body to her caretaker. It was nothing the woman had not seen before. Lumine reached once more toward her bed stand, this time to grasp the cane that rested beside it. With its aid, she painstakingly stood up – only to stumble a bit before regaining her balance.
From the doorway, Ozma had jolted at the near fall. "Miss, would you like help getting dressed?"
The words were bitter, in Lumine's mind. She wanted to refuse, wanted to do such a simple thing without having to rely on someone else to help. She pushed through the pride, though, and sighed. "Yes, please. Thank you, Ozma."
Ozma helped her into her customary clothing. It was the only clothing she owned – the only clothing she needed to own, as ageless and resistant to wear as she herself was. Or had been. Her brother sometimes encouraged her to try something new, and Lumine had occasionally received gifts of clothing from others, but she always gave them to Ozma to dispose of. What Ozma did with them, she neither knew nor cared.
She did not want to wear anything from this world. She did not want to be on this world. She did not belong here. But… Her brother did. Aether belonged here now. It had taken a long time for her to accept that fact, but accept it she had. And she belonged with her brother. Even now, even after everything, the thought of parting from him was more painful than any thought she could imagine.
Not that she could leave, even had she wanted, she thought to herself ruefully, idly rubbing the cold, black gemstone adorning her dress. She no longer had the power. The last remnants had faded away shortly after her brother's return, and now neither of them could see the myriad worlds, let alone travel to them. And even if she could… well, her body was far too weak, now. She would be all but helpless, should she run into danger, and those myriad worlds contained dangers aplenty.
Fully clothed, Lumine walked out of her room step by carefully measured step, one hand on her cane and the other hand resting on Ozma's proffered arm.
"Auntie!"
A rare, true smile blossomed across Lumine's face as a couple of the other reasons her current, miserable existence was still worthwhile barreled into her, arms wrapping around her in a synchronized hug. "Easy," she laughed, hugging them back with her cane arm while Ozma, used to this routine as well, grasped her other arm to steady her.
Lumine gazed fondly at the two pairs of golden eyes peering up at her. She needed no book to remember these two, no matter how the years changed them. Paimon was almost as tall as she was, now, and Yun was catching up fast. If they'd been human children, she would have placed them at age thirteen. Few would have guessed they'd celebrated their fiftieth birthday just last spring.
She studied them a moment longer. Paimon's face… it was like gazing into a mirror. The twins were practically clones of their father and aunt, the soft blue hue of their hair the only thing setting them apart.
She had mixed feelings about that blue hair. It was a constant reminder that Lumine was no longer the sole resident in her brother's heart. Still, Lumine honestly could not bring herself to resent her rival in the least. Ganyu was a remarkably kind person, and just being around her was soothing. More importantly, without Ganyu, her precious niece and nephew would never have come to be.
All that aside, it was admittedly also a very pretty color.
After the twins released her, Lumine asked, "So, what would my darling niece and nephew like to do today? Do you want to play a game? Build a puzzle? I have a new one I've been saving, just for you."
"We want you to tell us a story!" the two of them eagerly chorused together.
Lumine was mildly surprised. Storytelling had been a favorite choice of theirs many years ago, but it had been quite some time since they had last asked. "Certainly," she responded. "And what story would you like me to tell you?" Lumine had many to choose from. While her memories became jumbled and incoherent from the moment she had taken on Teyvanna's burden, her memories prior to that point were crystal clear. Would they want to hear of Aether's and her stay on the frozen world of Crysta? Or perhaps how they survived the giant lizards in the jungles of Zearth? Relating the things she could actually remember with clarity was always a joy.
"We want to hear about how you saved the world!"
Well, almost always a joy. And this was no surprise. It was their favorite, after all. Having not asked for a story in a while, it was bound to be that one. The associated memories were painful ones, but for these two she was always willing to indulge. Still, there was a protocol to follow. "You know that I was the one who put it in danger, right?"
"Yup! You were a villain!" Paimon said excitedly, just as she always did.
"But you were also a hero!" Yun added, his own part of the spiel.
"And if you'd done nothing at all, the world would have died anyway!" the two finished, together.
"I suppose you're right," Lumine recited her scripted answer with an exaggerated sigh. The storyteller took a seat in a padded New Liyuean chair, a gift from her sister-in-law, and the children sat on the floor before her, cross-legged. When they'd been younger, she'd have entertained them on her lap, but they'd grown far too large for that to be practical, now.
"I'll be heading out, now, and will return in a few hours," Ozma excused herself. "Children, please be gentle with your aunt, and be sure to lend her a hand if she needs any help!"
"Yes, Missus Ozma!" the two echoed.
Once her caretaker had departed, Lumine began her story…
Lumine's eyes flew open. "Aether!" she shouted – but there was no sign of her brother. Nor of the strange god who had challenged them. Who had… imprisoned her?
Taking in her surroundings, Lumine found herself encased within a cramped, cubical enclosure, illuminated by a faint, red light. So tightly was she entrapped that she was forced into a fetal position, knees pressed up against her chest and head bowed with too little room to even straighten her neck. What little she could see of the walls surrounding her betrayed no openings or seams of any kind. Had she been predisposed to claustrophobia, it would have been terrifying, and even without that she found her heart racing with anxiety.
"Hello?" she called out. Silence was her only answer. "Can anyone hear me? I'm trapped! Let me out, please!" Nothing.
Tentatively, she kicked at the wall before her. She might as well have been kicking a mountain. She summoned her sword, an awkward action within her confinement, but manageable. Her leverage was not good, but she stabbed the walls, pried at the corners, and pounded the floor with the hilt of her sword, all with no discernable effect of any kind. Eventually, she gave up and dismissed her sword once again.
It was a dismal situation to be in by any measure, and she could feel tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. It was all so overwhelming. One moment, she and her brother had been traveling as they always did, then in the space of minutes they had been overpowered and captured. Captured by a being who clearly had no interest in their comfort or well-being, judging by Lumine's cramped prison. At the very least, she was alive and unharmed – but what about her brother? She had no way of knowing whether he was in a similar predicament, or a worse one.
Time passed, and it was impossible to tell how much. Days, certainly. Months? Maybe. Years? The thought chilled her, but she couldn't discount the possibility, hard as it was to gauge time's passage. From time to time, Lumine slept, as there was little else to do to entertain herself. She became hungry, but no food was forthcoming. Not that lack of food would kill her, she knew. She and her brother had been forced to go without food in the past, and while the two of them enjoyed eating and did it regularly when they could, it wasn't necessary for their survival. For the celestial twins, normal biological processes didn't truly apply.
So, she waited, hungry, miserable, and alone, in a tight little box, for what seemed to be an eternity – until, suddenly, and without warning, her prison vanished.
Lumine blinked rapidly, unsure as to whether she was dreaming of being free (as she often did), or whether it was really happening. She quickly settled on the latter, and her head darted around to take in her surroundings.
She was seated on a short pillar in what appeared to be a temple of some kind, smooth marble columns supporting a broad ceiling. White walls finished the room, and the result was that her tiny prison had been replaced with a larger one – though this prison had a doorway, and the doorway was open.
The Traveler sprung to her feet and dashed toward the door. A tall, armored being slid smoothly between herself and her destination, and in an instant her weapon was in hand. "Celestial Flash!" Lumine snarled, and an arc of white light clove the unfortunate creature in two before traveling onward to smash the walls surrounding the doorway to pieces.
Lumine could hear alarmed, high-pitched chatter behind her as she passed through the doorway, the structure behind her already beginning to collapse in on itself. She raced on, columns and walls eventually giving way to open air, and eventually found herself out in the open… such as it was.
The landscape was a chaotic mess. Here and there grass and trees could be seen growing, but the earth was savaged by chasms of unknown depths. Chains of red cubes arced to and from those chasms – the signature power of the unknown god who'd apprehended the travelers when they'd arrived on this world. Lumine staggered to a halt, taking in the spectacle with unrestrained horror.
"This is what remains of this world," a high-pitched, reedy voice reverberated behind her.
Lumine twisted and slashed – but her sword was turned aside by a barrier of pale, blue energy. Within that barrier floated a tiny, furry being dressed in a white robe. The being held out its hands imploringly. "Please!" it said. "I mean you no harm! It was I and my fellows who released you from your confinement."
The possibility that the thing was an ally was worth considering – she HAD been freed, somehow. And Lumine did need some answers. "What-" Lumine found her throat incredibly dry from long disuse, and swallowed to moisten it. "Why is she doing this? Why is she tearing this world apart?"
"You misunderstand," the diminutive creature replied. "Her power – Teyvanna's power – is the only thing still holding this world together."
"What happened here?"
"The folly of mankind," it responded derisively. "Resentful of their creators, the mortals of this world turned against the gods. Wise in the ways of magic, they fashioned powerful artifacts capable of enslaving the gods themselves, and then turned them against one another. What you see before you is the fruit of their hubris: Terrestria, a dead world."
"Dead? But the trees…?"
"Teyvanna's fruitless efforts. They live only as long as she directly wills them to. They have no life of their own."
Lumine had no response to that.
Eventually, she asked, "I want to leave this place. Where is my brother?"
"Your brother is a husk," the creature replied. Lumine gasped, and her eyes widened in horror. "Be calm. He yet lives. But Teyvanna has drained him of nearly all of his power. It was her goal to use your celestial energy to stabilize the world. Yet, even with all of the energy your brother was able to provide, no progress has been made. She planned to take your energy next, but we intervened."
"Why?" Lumine asked, grateful that they had, but still confused.
"There is no evidence that your energy would have made any more of a difference. It would have been a waste. And we have a better purpose for you."
Lumine's guard was instantly raised at that. "What kind of purpose?" she asked suspiciously.
"Teyvanna has failed, and only her own stubbornness prevents her from realizing it," came the reply. "Until she gives up, she will never be free. WE will never be free."
"What do you mean?"
"We are Teyvanna's servants, and are bound to this miserable, dead planet for as long as she wills it," it replied in disgust. "As long as she retains hope, we will labor on her behalf. We are her slaves. But YOU are not. Your will is your own."
"So, what would you have me do?"
"We want you to destroy Teyvat."
"What's Teyvat?" Lumine asked in confusion.
"A mock world inhabited by the dead," the creature spat. "For reasons beyond my fathoming, Teyvanna salvaged what mortal souls she was able, and now keeps them – the very benighted beings who'd destroyed the world in the first place! – in a fabricated world, inhabiting fabricated bodies."
Lumine pondered that. "Perhaps she saw no point in reviving a dead world if there was no one to live there?"
"Perhaps," it responded with a derisive tone to its voice. "But whatever her reasons, the world she hopes to rebuild will never be, and so all of those salvaged souls are already doomed. As they well and truly deserve."
Lumine crossed her arms, and thought. After a moment, "I sympathize with your predicament. But honestly, it's none of my business. Why shouldn't I just take my brother and leave?"
"As I said, your brother is a husk," the creature replied. "His power is gone. Do you really want to leave him in such a state?"
"Well, no-"
"He can be restored," it continued. "And the destruction of Teyvat is the key. Its undoing will release an enormous amount of power, and with our help, your brother can be infused with that power."
Lumine considered what the being was suggesting. There was still one major flaw in the plan. "I don't know how to destroy Teyvat," she admitted. "I don't have the power to destroy a world. Or even a facsimile of one."
"Ah, but we do!" the creature crowed. "I and my fellows, we have been planning this for quite some time. But we are unable to act." In a quiet voice, "We are servitors. We must serve a master, and we cannot act against our master's will. Even your release was a loophole. We had been commanded to begin siphoning your power – but awakening you before doing so was not outside of our capability. Your escape, you accomplished on your own, and we are incapable of capturing you again – such a shame, don't you think?"
Lumine regarded it with cautious eyes, waiting for it to continue.
"Now that you ARE awake, there is nothing stopping us from serving TWO masters. Become our queen, and we will obey your commands, along with the commands of Teyvanna. Under your orders, we shall dismantle the very foundations of Teyvat. We shall consign its doomed souls to oblivion, and restore your brother's stolen energy. With no souls remaining to save, Teyvanna will have no hope of restoring the world. She will have no alternative but to finally realize the futility of her labors. And we, her laborers will finally be free."
Lumine considered the creature's proposal, gazing out upon the ruined landscape. The trees, she noticed, seemed to be wilted and dying, just as the little fellow had suggested. She had never seen a dying world before, but if any place fit the bill, this was it.
She couldn't stay. She didn't belong here, and neither did her brother. If the creature spoke truly, though, her brother was in need of healing beyond what she herself could provide. She could save him and depart this place, and all it would take was her complicity in the release to the hereafter of souls already dead, souls guilty of a crime beyond imagining.
For her brother, it was a small price indeed.
"All right, I agree," she responded.
The creature was clearly pleased, clapping tiny hands and doing a spin in the air. "Excellent, most excellent. But words alone will not bind us to your commands. You must be baptized in the essence of the Abyss. Only then may we accept you as a second master."
"Not part of the bargain I agreed to," Lumine said sharply. The creature had begun to float away, and she followed. "You will explain to me exactly what this 'baptism' entails, or the deal is off."
"Of course, of course," it responded airily. "It is but a trifling thing, but as you request, I will explain all that you desire to know…"
"After that," Lumine told her audience. "I did bad things. A lot of bad things."
"Aw, you always gloss over this part," Yun complained.
"It's hard to talk about," Lumine sighed.
"Did you kill a lot of people?" Paimon asked, eagerly. The girl had developed a distinct predilection toward the morbid over the years, Lumine had noticed.
"Not myself. Well, normally not myself," Lumine amended. There had been rare occasions where she'd needed to wield her own blade. "I commanded the denizens of the Abyss, and they were the ones who killed, at my bidding. I'm no less guilty for it. But yes, a lot of people. Far, far too many people."
"But you only did it because you thought they were bad souls, right?" Yun prodded.
"I wish it were so simple," Lumine answered. "But the truth of the matter is that it took very little time for me to realize that none of the souls in Teyvat had the blood of Terrestria on their hands. Not even ancient beings like those of the Archons or the Adepti. The individuals bearing those souls had long since passed away, and the ones living in Teyvat now were their descendants."
"Not that it mattered to the Abyss Order," she continued. "As far as they were concerned, those living on Teyvat had inherited their ancestors' sins, and were as guilty of the crime as they had been."
"That's dumb," Yun said. "If my dad did something wrong, it's not like I did it, right?" His sister nodded in firm agreement.
"Yes, it is very dumb," Lumine agreed, amused.
"So, why did you do it, then?" Paimon asked, curious.
"I did it for my brother," Lumine said simply. "For your father."
"I don't get it," Yun said. "Dad would never want you to hurt people, not unless they were bad guys."
"Hmm…" Lumine said, finger to her chin in thought. "Let me put it this way. You two love each other, right?"
"Yeah!" they chorused.
"And if one of you was in danger, you'd fight bad guys to save them, right?"
"Of course!"
"But what if the bad guys weren't bad? If you had to beat up a nice person, otherwise your sibling would die, would you do it?"
Paimon nodded, almost immediately, but Yun hesitated. "I guess…?" he said, uncertainly.
"And what if, to save your sibling, you had to kill a nice person who is already dying?"
This was enough for even Paimon to stop and consider her answer. "I mean… If they're already dying, I guess it would be okay?" she asked, troubled and uncertain.
"I don't like it. It's a terrible question," Yun protested. Lumine noted he hadn't actually said no.
"It is terrible," Lumine agreed. "Incredibly terrible. But that's the question I had to face, each and every time I sent the Abyss Order into the world. And each and every time, I chose my brother."
"But they weren't dying, right?" Yun asked.
"I believed the words of the Abyss Order, that Teyvanna would never restore the world," Lumine answered. "Even now, I believe that the Order spoke to me nothing but what they believed to be the truth. I believe so even more so, now that I've shouldered the same burden Teyvanna did. Teyvat would only exist for as long as Teyvanna could sustain it, and powerful as she was, even she could not sustain it forever. The world was doomed, and so were the people in it."
"But it wasn't doomed," Yun insisted. "I mean, we're all alive now, right?"
There it was. The bitterest of questions. "What your mother and father did…" Lumine answered slowly. "What they did was nothing short of a miracle. "It's not something I could possibly have done alone."
Not that she'd tried. Not that she'd even considered trying. The painful truth was that Lumine had never even imagined that there might have been a third option. To her, every choice had been a stranger's life weighed against the life of her brother, and of their mutual freedom. As the years passed and the Abyss gnawed at the roots of the world, that choice became easier and easier to make.
The children didn't seem wholly satisfied with that answer, and Lumine could not blame them. Rather than allow them to dwell… "Anyway, you want to hear how the story ends, right?"
The two perked up at that, and nodded.
"The final battle took place in the crumbling ruins before the gates of Celestia, the floating city of the gods," Lumine began. "The only place that existed both in Terrestria and in the false world of Teyvat. In one manner of speaking, it was the only real place in Teyvat at all…"
So frustrating! Lumine's sword grated against her brother's, leaving the other weapon the worse for wear. It was only natural; hers was a Celestial Blade, and his a mere scrap of nothing from a world that didn't really exist. As though synchronized, the siblings leapt away from one another, each guardedly watching the other for the next move.
"This is the way it has to be, Aether," Lumine said in a low voice. "Once the Tsaritsa frees us all, you and I can finally leave this place. We don't belong here!"
"Not happening, Lumine!" Aether responded, conjuring a torrent of water and spraying it at his sibling.
Exasperated, Lumine redirected the elemental attack with a luminescent shield and countered the swing following the obvious feint. In the same smooth motion, she grabbed Aether by the shirt. She smacked her head ungently against his. Perhaps THAT would allow her words to penetrate his thick skull. Slightly dazed herself, but knowing Aether took the worse of it, she snarled, "WHY? I've laid everything on the table for you! I've told you the truth, the whole truth, everything there is to know! Why do you insist on trying to preserve these ghosts?"
A glint of blue gave Lumine more than enough warning. She shoved Aether away and lifted her arm with plenty of time to deflect the crackling blue bolt of Cryo energy with a resummoned celestial shield. To her irritation, the shield, dampened by Aether's earlier attack, froze over and shattered. It would take some time to regenerate. She had once again underestimated how infuriatingly in-synch her brother was with that woman. "Stay out of this! My brother and I are having a discussion, and it's none of your business!"
"On the contrary," Ganyu responded calmly, drawing her bow once again. "As one of the 'ghosts' you seem so eager to discard, I'd say this is very much my business."
"Suit yourself," Lumine smiled, a bit darkly. "But am I really the one you should be focusing on? I'm more than capable of holding the two of you at bay for as long as it takes…" It was no exaggeration. Her brother was impressively strong, taking into consideration his lack of celestial energy. The way he'd augmented himself using the eight elements of the world was truly impressive. It actually took some effort for Lumine to fight him while still holding back enough to avoid killing him. Even so, Ganyu was just one more vector to consider. Lumine had the measure of both, now, and was confident she could delay them for as long as necessary.
Besides, Lumine had made a valid point. Currently, the greatest threat was not herself, but the Tsaritsa. Around her spun the three remaining of the Gnoses, the other five having already been absorbed into her body. Pyro, Dendro, and the lost element, Tenebro, were all that remained. Defending her were the four surviving Harbingers: Scaramouche, Pedrelino, Capitano, and Tartaglia. They were capable defenders, and only a few of Aether's comrades had been able to join them on the journey to Celestia. Formidable Varka was holding the attention of both Tartaglia and Scaramouche, and Fischl was locked in a deadly duel of projectiles with the capering Pedrelino. Capitano, for his part was masterfully parrying the spears of both Dola and Maurice with his own. It was a stalemate all around, and Ganyu could easily tip the balance. The half-Qilin glanced at the conflict surrounding the Tsaritsa, weighing the importance of that battle against rising to the defense of her lover.
Lumine had no intention of allowing her to make that choice. Once Ganyu was distracted, a snap of the fingers was all that was needed. A quartet of Cryo Abyss Mages popped into existence surrounding the woman. Lumine had few illusions that they would be able to defeat her, but they didn't need to. Time was on their side.
"Ganyu!" Aether cried out, and attempted to rush to her side. Lumine intervened, it would be most irritating if her brother were to come to the Adeptus's aid. Aether skidded to a halt, glancing between his sister and Ganyu.
A flash of deep, purple light briefly illuminated the room as the Tenebro Gnosis disappeared into the Tsaritsa's breast. "Beleth!" Aether called out, desperately. "My sister's using you! Please, don't do this!"
"Of course she is," the regal woman replied with a beatific smile. "Just as we are using her. Our paths align, for now, and while her goals differ from my own, our means to that goal coincide."
"Her 'goals' are to destroy this world and everyone on it!" Aether replied, incredulously.
"She is welcome to do so," the Tsaritsa smirked. "Once I have regained my true power – the power held at bay by damnable Celestia – I will finally be able to free my people, to save and protect them. The old world shall burn away to make way for the new. It matters not whether it be by my hand or your sister's."
Lumine's sword crashed into Aether's, the latter barely raising his guard in time. "Now, now, brother. Do you really have the time to pay attention to anyone but me?"
Aether was becoming frantic, now, which was both a good sign and a bad one. Good, because he was finally starting to recognize how hopeless the situation was. The Tsaritsa was going to succeed, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Bad, because the idiot was redoubling his efforts anyway.
"Please," Aether pleaded, and Lumine was taken aback by the anguish in his voice. "I don't want them to die. I don't want Ganyu to die!"
Irritated, Lumine shot back, "There's nothing that can change that! Whether she dies now or in a few years when this world finally crumbles on its own! And even if she wasn't going to die, what were you thinking, taking her as a lover? Did you learn nothing from Rosella? From Sing? From any of the others? We can't get close to world-dwellers, you know that!"
"He really did love you, you know," Aether replied, sadly.
The comment struck Lumine like a physical blow, and for the first time during their duel she was now on the back foot with Aether pressing the advantage. "Dainsleif loved you. From the bottom of his heart. And you killed him," Aether continued, reproach clear in his voice.
As a battle tactic, Aether's words were devastatingly effective. Dainsleif's life was the most difficult one she'd ever had to take. Aether wasn't wrong – he HAD loved her. And Lumine, in spite of her better judgment had come to love him, as well. A century ago, she'd allowed him into her heart, and in a moment of weakness, of desperate loneliness, eventually into her bed, as well. He'd never questioned her mission, provided her with unwavering support, even as she continued to dismantle the world he called home.
She'd come within a hairsbreadth of calling it all off, the thought of losing him pained her so. Doing nothing at all except love her, he'd very nearly derailed her from her goal. At least, until that terrible day when he told her the truth behind his existence, a truth he could no longer bear to hold back from her. The truth that he was a sliver of Teyvanna herself, given mortal form and inserted into Teyvat to stop her since Teyvanna could not do so directly. And it had nearly worked, albeit not in the way Teyvanna or Dainsleif had originally planned.
Lumine banished him from her presence that day, and when they crossed paths again, she ran him through. Tears streaming from her eyes, she'd cradled him tenderly as the life passed from his body. Another soul balanced against her brother. Another choice made.
It angered her that Aether was using Dainsleif against her. Her face twisted in rage to such a degree that Aether was taken aback. "How dare you? How ungrateful can you be?" Lumine's sword crashed against Aether's again and again, and dimly she realized she was getting sloppy – if she wasn't careful, she might actually harm him. "I tore my own heart to pieces, and why do you think I did it? It was for you! YOU!"
A flash of pale green light. Another Gnosis absorbed. Neither Lumine nor Aether noticed.
"I didn't ask you to!" Aether shot back. "I'd never ask you to!"
"YOU. ARE. JUST. TOO. STUBBORN. TO. UNDERSTAND!" Lumine punctuated each word with a tremendous blow her brother could barely parry. The last knocked the sword from his hand. It clattered to the floor and skidded out of Aether's reach.
Breathing heavily, Lumine aimed her free hand at her brother. "Now stay put while I put an end to this! Celestial bondage!" Streamers of light erupted from her hand, twisting through the air toward her target.
"I got this!" a high-pitched voice called out. "Oof!" The glowing bonds wrapped firmly around a tiny, flying child-like creature, who then tumbled painfully to the ground. "Ugh, not one of Paimon's greatest ideas…"
"Paimon!" Aether shouted in surprise and delight.
"What does it take to get rid of you?" Lumine asked in exasperation. The irritating being was another of Teyvanna's shards, placed on Teyvat to guide her brother, to help strengthen him and to ultimately pit him against her. Using her brother against her was, Lumine had to admit, the most effective weapon Teyvanna could have brought to bear.
Lumine THOUGHT she'd sealed the annoying thing away when she'd confronted Aether and his companions in the Forgotten Crypt within the catacombs Khaenri'ah, final resting place of Gremory, the last Tenebro Archon, leaving Aether and his companions no choice but to ascend to Celestia without her. That the little imp had freed herself AND somehow made it to Celestia as well was mind-boggling.
"Paimon's wily!" the white-clad figure chirped smugly, providing no useful answer at all. "Now, um, can someone help Paimon get out of these glowing rope thingies?"
By then, of course, Aether had retrieved his weapon. Lumine released a disgusted sigh. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way… eh?" She'd planned to engage Aether again but her left foot wouldn't move. Glancing down, she saw that it was frozen in place by a coating of ice. Another glance up revealed Ganyu, bow freshly fired. She'd defeated two of the Abyss Mages, and the remaining two hadn't been able to intercept her attack.
A single blow from her sword freed her, but Lumine knew already it was too late. Aether had taken advantage of her momentary distraction and launched himself toward the Tsaritsa.
"Oh, no you don't!" Tartaglia shouted, launching a barrage of watery bolts and suffering a crushing blow to the ribs from Varka in exchange. The arrows were consumed by a shield of Tenebro energy so utterly black it hurt the eyes to stare at it directly.
Five paces to the Tsaritsa. The Archon watched the approaching figure with a slight smile, not seeming concerned in the least. "You," she began.
Four paces. Green Dendro energy began to glow around Aether's hand. "are"
Three paces. Vines erupted toward the Tsaritsa, aiming toward the final gnosis. "too"
Two paces. A trio of knives slashed through the vines. Pedrelino paid dearly for the save, his lithe body riddled with arrows and sparking with Electro energy. "late!"
One pace. Aether's sword hand whirled forward, just as the final gnosis penetrated the Tsaritsa's flesh. Unlike the previous absorptions, the flash of red light accompanying the Pyro Gnosis slammed into those near the Tsaritsa with tremendous force, knocking the Harbingers, their opponents, and Aether away, and sending them sprawling to the ground.
Lumine relaxed, and smiled, lowering her weapon. There was little joy in that smile, but definitely a kind of satisfaction. Finally, the awful task was done. Finally, this world would be put out of its misery, and she and her brother could be free again. She knew it would take him time to forgive her, but he would understand, eventually. All that was left now was to watch the show.
"Finally! Finally!" Beleth crowed. "We Archons have been barred from Celestia for far too long. Let the gates be opened!"
The heart of Celestia was protected by an enormous barrier of white light. Only select mortals, all of them bearers of Visions, had ever been able to pass through it, and only after their deaths. That barrier now flickered.
"Let this wretched prison be UNDONE!"
What followed was a phenomenon frankly difficult to describe. Form horizon to horizon, like festive paper being ripped from a gift, the starry night sky peeled away and vanished, leaving nothing but an unearthly red glow in its place. At the same time, the light protecting Celestia's heart finally disappeared.
"Show yourself, Warden of our prison! Show yourself, Sustainer of Heavenly Principles! I challenge you!" the Tsarista demanded.
The air split, then, black, diamond-shaped gates springing into existence. A tall, shapely female figure emerged from one of them, white hair billowing around her head. Lumine noticed Aether grab his sword tightly, but did not do the same. This wasn't the same as before. The golden eyes that Teyvanna leveled at them were not filled with cold distain. Not this time. Now, they were filled with sadness.
"And once again," Teyvanna said softly, "the arrogance of man has doomed this world."
"Untrue," Lumine said simply. "This world has been dead for tens of thousands of years. It's about time you accepted that fact."
"Perhaps," the deity responded. "Perhaps it is as you say."
"Why do you ignore me?" the Cryo Archon demanded incredulously. "It was I who beat down the doors of Celestia, and it is I who will now crush you once and for all!"
For the first time, Teyvanna's inhuman eyes came to rest upon Beleth. "You possess the Gnoses," she said. "Know you their purpose?"
"Their purpose is whatever I decide!" the Tsarista snorted. "They are power – power enough even to overturn the heavenly principles that bar even the Archons from the hallowed halls of Celestia."
"Certain beings who prove themselves worthy are granted a Gnosis," Teyvanna continued, as though Beleth had not responded. "They are called Archons, and are to be judges of mortal souls. It is by the virtue of the Gnosis that gifted mortals are granted Visions, and the most exceptional among them are allowed to enter Celestia itself. These souls, the most virtuous of all souls, were to be the heirs of the new world. To be a judge is a privilege, and also a burden, for one cannot fairly judge oneself. For this reason, no Archon, no matter how grand their soul, shall ever pass through the gates of Celestia."
"You no longer get to decide who is worthy and who is not," Beleth snarled, gathering Pyro energy into one hand and Dendro into the other.
Far from intimidated, Teyvanna murmured, "I need not lift a hand against you. No mortal soul can withstand the power of more than a single Gnosis, let alone eight."
"What is this nonsense? Surely you realize, I am no mortal soul! I am an Archon! More than that, I stand above all other Archons."
"All who dwell within Teyvat are mortals." Teyvanna responded. "Their power is the power granted by heavenly principles. And you, in your hubris, have squandered that power."
"OZ!" a voice shrieked. Fischl was cradling her avian companion, and while reading the expression of a bird was difficult to read under the best of circumstances, it was obvious that the creature was not well.
"Mein Fräulein… Auf wiedersehen…" the bird whispered, before vanishing in a crackle of Electro energy. On Fischl's back, her Vision flickered and dimmed.
"Archon, human, it matters not," Teyvanna continued. "Your power was derived from the stars in the heavens, and now those heavens are gone. Only the Gnoses possess power independent of your world, and without the power granted you by the stars, it is now only a matter of time before the Gnoses consume you."
Throughout the room, Visions flickered and turned black. The Delusions borne by the Harbingers were not spared, either; artificial as they might have been, they, too, depended upon the stars.
"Aaaah" Beleth cried out. The power in her hands had turned on her, one hand beginning to blacken and peel while the other was pierced and penetrated by thorns and branches. Across her body, other elements began to express themselves to her detriment.
"Your highness!" Tartaglia croaked as he clutched his crushed ribs, a bit of blood dripping from his mouth. The other Harbingers were likewise transfixed with horror by the spectacle, save Padrelino, who lay unmoving and bleeding on the floor.
"Preparations are complete, my Queen," a Pyro Abyss mage whispered in Lumine's ear.
"Begin at once," she responded, earning an obedient nod before the mage vanished.
The dying Archon's attention was drawn to Lumine by the exchange, and she desperately called out, "We had an accord! You will free my people, yes?"
Lumine nodded. "Naturally. It was my intention to do so long before you and I ever met. It has long been the goal of the Abyss to free every soul in Teyvat from their imprisonment. I do have to wonder, though – did you ever stop to consider where you'd be freeing them to?"
Lumine gestured, and her Abyssal minions heeded her intention. Celestia simultaneously existed in both Teyvat and Terrestria, and it was trifling matter to swap out the verdant landscape below the floating city with the cracked and blasted wasteland of the dead world.
"Welcome to your new home," Lumine said.
"This… no…" the Tsarista gasped, stricken with horror. She dropped to her hands and knees, overwhelmed.
"How… how could you be so cruel?" Paimon asked.
"The truth is often cruel," Lumine replied with a touch of sadness as she watched the former Archon crumble into dust. "It's no less valuable for it." Her expression turned venomous, as she turned her gaze first upon her brother, then upon Teyvanna. "If some had accepted the truth sooner, a lot of unnecessary suffering could have been avoided."
"Bold of you to lecture me," Teyvanna uttered. There was no emotion in her voice; it was as though she was stating a simple fact. "And as you chided the fallen Archon for her lack of forethought, I cannot help but wonder whether you, too, are prepared for what follows?"
"Oh, I believe that I am," Lumine smirked. "Mighty Teyvanna, her labors laid waste after tens of thousands of years of hopeless toil? All rendered moot in an instant? No matter how aloof such a deity might be, I would imagine her resentment would be… severe."
"Indeed, quite severe," Teyvanna agreed, her eyes narrowing. She lifted a hand, and a red cube materialized above it.
Lumine's sword leapt into her hand, and her golden wings appeared at her back. "You're not the only one harboring a bit of resentment," Lumine announced darkly as she took to the air. "I plan to make you pay for what you put my brother and me through."
The battle that followed was intense, Lumine swooping and gliding past Teyvanna's relentless chains of cubes, but it was far from the one-sided battle the twins had lost in their first encounter with the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. The abyssal energy the Abyss mages had infused into Lumine was derived from Teyvanna's own essence, and its presence prevented Teyvanna from entrapping her as she had in their first conflict.
Lumine had spent the better part of the past five hundred years preparing for this battle, learning all that she could about her opponent from the Abyss Order. It was a rare conflict where one side knew the other as thoroughly as she did.
And that is why Lumine knew it was a battle she could not win.
"Oof!" Lumine gasped, as she was crushed to the ground beneath an enormous cube. She was pinned, her pelvis and legs trapped beneath the construct.
A shadow loomed over her. "I see that your words were naught but empty boasting," Teyvanna said, her voice cold, but oddly disappointed, as well.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Lumine smiled. "It's true that you're more than I can handle – but I never planned on handling you alone in the first place."
Teyvanna frowned in puzzlement before leaping into the air as a flash of celestial energy split the air where she'd been standing. Aether, gems blazing with a white light, touched down next to his sister and gestured at the cube pinning her in place. The cube was wrenched into the air as a trio of Geo constructs erupted from the earth beneath it. Aether offered Lumine his hand and helped her to her feet.
"I knew you would choose me," Lumine grinned. It had all been part of the plan. With the false sky removed, Aether had lost all of his elemental abilities, returning to the near-helpless state he'd been in when he was first sent to Teyvat. The Abyss mages had been ready when the Tsaritsa had broken Celestia's barrier, and had siphoned the energy of the constellations as Teyvanna's grip upon them was torn away. When Lumine began her battle, those mages had offered that power, along with the Gnoses they retrieved from the Tsaritsa's ashes, to Aether, imploring him to save their queen.
Naturally, here he was. The bond Lumine and Aether shared was unbreakable. Lumine had an unshakable faith in that bond, and her faith had once more been proven true.
"I haven't 'chosen' you," Aether denied, frowning. "You still have a lot to answer for when this is over."
"I know," Lumine replied. There was no way Aether would soon forgive her for what she'd done. She knew that. It was hard enough for her to forgive herself. But one day, he WOULD understand. She was certain of it. They were family; each the only family the other had. This ordeal had changed them both, but nothing could change that simple truth.
When the two rejoined the battle, the balance had clearly tipped. The mastery of the elements Aether had learned during his time in Teyvat added a whole new dimension to the battle as he used the Gnoses to deploy them. It was the primary reason Lumine had not chosen to use them herself; she knew that in Aether's hands, they would be far more potent.
As she fended off the twins, Teyvanna's stony expression began to crack, the glimmer of a frown of frustration creeping across her countenance. The twins' swords sliced through cube after cube. Chains twisted through the air only to be tangled together in a whirlwind and annihilated with a blast of fire. Teyvanna deployed a large cube around her own body to defend it, only for a burst of Tenebro energy to consume it and leave her floating vulnerably once again.
They were wearing her down, it was clear; Teyvanna's attacks were becoming more and more frantic – until, at last, two swords found their mark in her heart. Teyvanna grunted with pain, and her hands wrapped around the blades, summoning cubes to try to shatter them. The celestial metal of the twins' weapons was too strong, though, and the cubes vanished with no effect.
Teyvanna went limp, and Lumine could tell that she'd resigned herself to her fate. "So, now it ends," Teyvanna murmured forlornly.
"You knew this was coming," Lumine consoled her with genuine empathy. "The Abyss. They know you. They ARE you. This is the end they wanted. The end you wanted."
"Not the end I wanted," Teyvanna disagreed. "The end that had to be. The end I wanted… just wasn't possible."
"I know," Lumine replied. "Rest, now, Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Rest, and rejoin your comrades. Your work here is done."
Teyvanna's eyes closed and her head slumped forward. Moments later, her body divided into innumerable cubes, cubes which further subdivided into smaller cubes, then smaller still, onward until they vanished entirely.
The celestial siblings dismissed their weapons, and floated to the ground. This next part was going to be hard, Lumine knew. Aether was going to have to say goodbye. She would remain at his side while he did. She hated to see him miserable, but she owed it to him, owed it to all the lives she'd taken, to see this through to the end. To stay with this world until it breathed its last.
She noticed, as they touched down, that Capitano and Scaramouche were dead. She guessed that they had resisted when the Abyss had come to claim the Gnoses from Beleth's remains. Without their Delusions, they'd been no match, of course. Pedrelino still hadn't moved, and was likely dead, as well. Tartaglia looked as though he wished he was dead, but his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Here and there, Abyss Mages were dancing and cavorting within their shields. It was unsurprising that they were so pleased; they'd achieved their chosen goal with aplomb. Even so, Lumine wished that they'd tone it down a bit. To rub their victory in the face of the losers was distasteful, especially given that the consequences of that loss were so dire.
All of Aether's companions were alive and well, though Fischl was curled up and sobbing miserably. Paimon had managed to free herself from the celestial bonds somehow, and was floating next to Ganyu. The expression on Ganyu's face… The despair in her eyes took Lumine by surprise. It was true that her fate was sealed, but Ganyu had never struck her as the type to be so afraid of her own death. Aether touched down next to Ganyu, who immediately grabbed him in a tight embrace, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest.
"Please," she said. "Please don't."
Aether embraced her back, stroking her hair and horns with one hand. "I have to. You know I have to, Ganyu." The horned woman sobbed even harder at that.
Lumine felt unease crawl up her spine. Something wasn't right. "Please don't." Please don't what?
Here and there, Abyss Mages began to pop out of existence. They had been an extension of Teyvanna, and now that she was gone, they would vanish, as well. Undoubtedly, the same fate awaited Paimon, another shard of the fallen god.
Speaking of the fairy-like creature, Paimon was more subdued than Lumine had ever seen her before. Not that surprising, considering the circumstances, but still uncharacteristic. "Aether, if we're going to do this, we gotta do it now. Paimon doesn't have much longer," the floating creature said.
Aether pulled away from Ganyu and planted a kiss on her lips, one she was too overcome with tears to properly return.
With dawning horror, Lumine realized that his farewell was… Off. He was acting as though HE were the one about to depart, not Ganyu. "Brother? What are you doing?" she asked, nervously.
Aether shot her a sad look. "You planned this all out pretty well, sis," he said. "Got everything you wanted. But… we were making plans, too. Plans we hoped never to use."
Lumine jerked in surprise as her brother embraced her, as well. "Take care of yourself, Lumine," he said.
This was bad, very bad. Even having no idea what was going on, she knew, to the core of her being, that something awful was about to happen. "I don't understand? What is happening? Someone, please tell me!"
Aether had passed the eight Gnoses to Paimon, and they were now orbiting her body. Paimon herself was beginning to glow, the outline of her body gradually becoming indistinct.
Mercifully, Lumine received an answer. "Paimon embodies Teyvanna's optimism and hope for the future," Dola murmured, placing a comforting arm wrapped around Ganyu. The Sumeruan woman continued, "Everything Teyvanna knew about preserving Teyvat is a part of Paimon, as well. With her help, Aether is going to inherit Teyvanna's burden."
Lumine paled. "That's… That's insane! He can't do it! There's no way!"
Then, to Aether directly, "Aether, you're not a god! What are you thinking?"
"I'll be what I have to be," Aether said, determined. "Even if it's only for a few more centuries, I'll keep this world alive."
"It's NOT alive!" Lumine shouted. "These people," she gestured wildly at the assembled mortals, "they're already dead!"
"Do they LOOK dead?" Aether demanded. "Do they act as though they're dead? Lumine, think a moment. We've visited world after world after world. Each and every world we've visited, every person on those worlds are going to die someday. That's what it means to be mortal. The people of Teyvat, their bodies may be a bit different from what we're used to, but they're born, live their lives, and die just like anyone else. Their world may be a bit closer to its end than most, but that doesn't make them any less deserving of life. These people; they're precious to me. Ganyu especially. Even if it costs me my own life, it'll be worthwhile, if they can live out theirs."
Lumine couldn't think of anything to say, and numbly watched as Paimon condensed into a sphere of white light. Her brother's words… she'd been thinking of him all along as naïve, placing so much importance on the well-being of false people. But what if he was right? Were they really false? Their souls were real. Their lives were real.
It had been so easy to buy into the viewpoint of the Abyss, so convenient for her goals. Even if she didn't particularly believe that the mortals were the inheritors of their ancestors' sins, the idea that their lives were cheap because by all rights they should never have been born in the first place had been etched deeply within her.
And when forced to choose between that world of cheap lives and his sister, he'd chosen the world. She couldn't even resent the choice. The one he'd known as his sister had changed far too much from the woman he had once known.
But him… he had not changed. He was still the brother she loved and cherished.
And given the choice, she would always choose her brother.
Always.
Before she even knew what she was doing, Lumine had thrown her body into the diffuse glow that used to be Paimon, gathering it into herself.
Her mind exploded.
She saw the world.
She was the world.
"Sixteen minutes," Lumine said, as she drew the story to a close.
Her rapt audience waited for her to continue.
"Millions of clocks, sundials, and sands. Trillions of shadows. I knew them all like they were parts of my body. They all told me exactly how long it took before I knew I had reached my limits. Every blade of grass. Every gust of wind. Every man, woman, and child on the planet, every plant, animal, or stone. I could feel it all, sense it all, all at once. And let's not forget your mother. I had to keep her going, too, keep her false body whole, and she kept moving farther and farther away as she and your father Traveled. To say it was overwhelming was an understatement."
"But you kept going," Yun said, his sister nodding in agreement.
"I did," Lumine agreed. "I knew that if I stopped, Aether would do it instead, and I couldn't bear the thought of him enduring that kind of suffering."
"Why didn't you stop after Dad left? Wouldn't it be too late for him to take over by the time he found out?" Paimon asked, curiously.
Lumine sighed. "It's a bit generous to say that I was actually thinking at all. Everything… required just too much concentration. For every minute after those first sixteen, all I could think about was how to keep the world from falling apart the next."
"And you did all that for twenty-seven years…" Paimon said, her voice awed.
"Yes… And as much as I wanted to stop… It's difficult to say for certain why I didn't. Without my thoughts to guide me, I had only my emotions. Part of me felt like I deserved to suffer, for what I'd done. Part of me simply didn't want to let your father down. I'd finally realized that I'd managed to cross a line with him that I never thought possible, and that my only chance to earn his forgiveness was to press on. And part of me… wanted to make amends to the people of this world."
"And that's why, in the end, you'll always be a hero in my book!" Yun proclaimed.
Lumine reached out and ruffled their hair, causing them to half-giggle, half-protest the treatment. They were such good kids. Lumine couldn't honestly agree with her nephew's assessment; she had far too much innocent blood on her hands for that.
"Auntie, why didn't they put you in jail?" Paimon asked.
"It's cuz she's a hero, obviously," Yun insisted.
"There are a lot of reasons," Lumine answered. "Probably the biggest one is that your father didn't want it to happen, and a lot of people respect his judgment. There are some who feel as you do, that I'm a hero for keeping Teyvat alive long enough for your father to Seed the world and grant Teyvat's plants, animals, and people true bodies. Others…" she smiled a bit bitterly, "others feel that I've already been punished more than any jail could hope to accomplish. And they're not wrong."
"Sustaining the world... put a huge strain on my mind and body. By the time your father freed me, I was a wreck. I could barely lift my own arms, all of my senses barely worked at all, and my mind was a scrambled mess. I couldn't even talk for weeks afterwards, and had to be fed like a baby. The people that wanted to punish me… well, for them, it was enough."
Left unsaid were those who enjoyed seeing her in her current, weakened state. Fischl, for one – or, rather, Amy, her haughty persona laid to rest along with her faithful friend – held a special resentment toward Lumine for Oz's death. It was a big part of the reason why she'd agreed to allow her daughter to act as Lumine's caretaker, the opportunity to rub in how helpless she was, now. The twins and Amy's family got along well; they and Ozma had been best of friends when Ozma was a child. Lumine did not want to get in the way of that, and so bore Amy's hostility without comment.
"Will you ever get better, Auntie?" Paimon asked.
"I don't know," Lumine sighed. "I'm not as bad as I was… But it's been years since I last saw any improvement. I think the way I am now is the way I'll always be."
Paimon and Yun pondered that. Too solemn! Lumine preferred to see the twins happy. "Anyway, the story's over! What would you like to do next?"
"Actually… There's something important we gotta tell you," Yun said. Still solemn. Lumine began to worry.
"What is it, kiddo?" she asked, hesitantly.
"We're… we're gonna go, soon." Paimon blurted out.
The way they said it, Lumine immediately realized that they weren't talking about leaving her house. "Where are you going?" She asked, cautiously.
Instead of answering, the twins held up their right hands. Dancing in the palm of each was a constellation.
Lumine felt cold. "How soon?" she asked, swallowing.
"Real soon," Yun answered. "Today, probably."
It occurred to Lumine then, what had happened to her and her brother's ability to Travel. It had not faded away. It had gone to a new pair of celestial twins, instead. And now, they were finally old enough to use that power.
"Do your parents know?" Lumine asked.
Paimon shook her head. "Not yet. We're going to tell them, next. We wanted to tell you, first."
"I… don't want you to go," Lumine admitted, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. She scolded herself. It was a pointless thing to say. She was a Traveler once herself. She knew that the twins would no more be able to resist the call of the stars than they could stop breathing.
"I toldja she was going to cry," Yun said reproachfully to his sister.
"We couldn't NOT tell her," Paimon protested.
"Yeah, I know, but still," her brother muttered.
"Do you… do you think you'll come back and visit?" Lumine asked, hopefully, even as the sensible part of her mind immediately dashed those hopes. Aether's efforts to save Teyvat notwithstanding, when had she and Aether ever revisited a world they'd left behind?
"I dunno," Yun answered, uncertainly.
Lumine wiped her eyes on the wrist of her glove, and then stared at that glove a moment. "Can you and your sister come back one more time before you leave? I want to give you some presents before you go."
"Sure, we can do that," Yun replied. Paimon nodded, as well.
"This one, I'll give you now," Lumine said. With a flash, her sword appeared in her hand. She grasped it by the flat of the blade, and offered it hilt first to Paimon, who stared at it with blank astonishment.
"You know how to use it, right?" Lumine asked. Paimon nodded, dumbly. "It's a Celestial Blade. It will never, ever break, no matter what you do."
Cautiously, Paimon took the weapon. "It's a lot lighter than mine," she murmured.
"I'll be very surprised if your father doesn't give you his," Lumine told Yun, causing his eyes to pop wide.
"Come back tonight, bring your parents, and we'll give you a proper send-off," Lumine said. "I'll give you the rest of your gifts then."
"We really didn't want to make a big deal out of it," Paimon confessed.
Leaving forever, and they didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Lumine rolled her eyes, inwardly. "Please, humor your auntie?"
"Okay," Paimon agreed. Yun nodded.
Once the two had departed, Lumine hastened to her room as fast as her body would allow her. She had preparations to make. Once Ozma returned, she was going to ask the caretaker if she had kept any of her discarded clothes. She was going to give her celestial clothing to Paimon, even if she had to parade around afterward stark naked – but honestly, she'd rather not parade around stark naked, if she could avoid it. The dress was a bit large for her niece, now, but she would soon grow into it. Like the sword, it would never be destroyed – perfect garb for a Traveler.
The other gift she wanted to give the twins… a journal. One with a copy of Qiqi's mnemonic exercises. There was so much Lumine and her brother could no longer remember, and she did not want the twins to forget their parents, and she and Aether had. Did not want them to forget HER.
After all, even as broken as her own mind was, Lumine was determined never, ever to forget her precious twins.
Author's Note: This story concludes the series that began with "Change", and I do not plan to write more stories in this continuity, though it's possible I may write more Genshin Impact works in the future.
The final chapter wound up being WAY heftier than I planned, nearly as long as the rest of the series put together. It also featured Lumine as the point-of-view character, rather than Ganyu, and exploring Ganyu had been the entire purpose of the original story. Eh, I'm still satisfied with how it turned out!
I debated holding off on the release of this story until the Patch 1.4 Archon Quest, just in case I needed to make any last-minute changes to avoid contradicting what we currently know of as canon. I decided to go ahead; it's inevitable that my take on the ending of the game will eventually be rendered invalid, and whether it happens now or later doesn't much matter. So, enjoy it while you can!