Authors note: Thank you so much for reading this fic, thank you for the favs! Here's chapter 5! reviews and constructive criticism is always welcomed!
disclaimer: I don't own Genshin Impact nor it's characters nor story they are intellectual property and works of MiHoYo, Shanghai Miha Touring Film Technology Co., Ltd.
CH 05 Perseverance
They headed towards the lodge cabin, they noticed there was a chain and lock around the doors, Tartaglia summoned one of his water blades to break the chain. They entered the cabin, it looked small, with no furniture and a small fireplace.
"Well this place is empty..." said Tartaglia
Lumine rolling her eyes replies "Well it is abandoned... What did you expect? we wouldn't be in this situation if we just left with Paimon in the first place"
Annoyed Childe replies in a sarcastic manner "Oh so you really wanted the little one to look at you in the state you were in? Well I apologize for trying to help"
Lumine barked "I didn't told you to do that for me... In fact I think I made a big mistake coming here, no... I made a mistake coming to Snezhnaya with you! I should have just went on my own and-" Before she could continue she was interrupted by the redhead
he begged "Lumine please... Don't tell me that, girlie you have no idea..."
"Save it..." said the blonde girl clearly upset "I don't want to hear how you want to battle me and how you are looking forward to us to engage in an epic fight... It's all you think about, you never think about how I am feeling, you're just always hungry for battles and-"
"STOP! PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO ME!" he grabs her by the shoulders as he pleaded, the redhead then pauses and takes a deep breath and says "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!"
With tears in his eyes he continued "Yes, ever since I laid eyes on you for the first time when you were being chased down by the millelith. Yes, I know I did many terrible things under The Tsaritsa's orders... When I said I was going to kill you if the Tsaritsa ordered me to do so..."
He sighs as he continues "Please... You know that's a lie... You knew that was a big lie, I would rather kill myself than ever hurt you or my family. I apologize for my attitude earlier, I just can't let people see this soft side of me. I have to be cold and cruel so my subordinates respect me, I am the youngest member of the harbingers after all..."
He turns around while reflecting on everything he is telling her
"When I became a harbinger, people did not took me seriously and saw me as a joke, specially Scaramouche. So I had a lot to prove to everyone and not just my fellow Harbingers but her majesty The Tsaritsa as well... Also she knows how important is my family to me so she would never ask to do such a thing, perhaps she might want to kill you at some point, if you were ever to intervene in her plans but if that day ever comes I guess... I will have to face her to keep you and my family safe..."
He then proceeds to pull her closer to him, embracing her in his arms, he whispers "Girlie... My girlie... You make me feel alive, you have given this meaningless something to live for. I killed and battled to feel something to feel alive to remind myself I am human."
He proceeds to let go of her while he turned around to look at the window, to look at the gloomy gray sight "War, blood and battles were the only things that meant something to me. To be honest I wanted to destroy Liyue in the first place along with their Archon. But I didn't expected for Mr. Zhong.. I mean Morax to fake his death and the events that followed."
He turns around to face Lumine and smiles "Also I had to follow orders and I am so glad I did... I wouldn't had met you had I oppose Signora's orders. I guess I have to thank her for that..."
He heads towards the fireplace and he notices there's a few logs next to it "But before I continue, let's light a fire or we might freeze to death here" He begins to light the fire, with little to no effort he succeeded, he smiled
"There we go! okay... where was I? Like Vlad told you at the eatery... As a child I use to be so afraid of everything, seeing my parents being killed while trying to save my brother and sister has branded me. When I turned 14, I told myself I wasn't going to be afraid anymore, so I set off on a journey without telling Vlad nor my siblings. I got lost in the Kurile forest a very fearsome and dark forest filled with many many trees and terrible creatures... While I was wondering the forest, a big bear started chasing me..."
He poked the fire a bit and threw another log to keep the fire going, he continued "As I ran for my life with a blade in hand, I fell... Boy it was a big fall, I though I was going to continue falling forever but someone caught me. A blonde young man with an earing... You probably have an idea..."
Lumine whispered "Aether..."
Tartaglia noticed Lumine's sadness he replied "Yes that's right... Your brother..." he continued
"He asked how I fell here. I explained everything to him, with a soft smile he took me under his wing. That place felt like a lifetime but in our world it was nearly 3 months, he showed me everything I know now. During one of our battles my vision awakened I was graced by the water archon and was granted this vision" He shows Lumine his water vision
"Something in me awakened that day but at the same time... Something in me died. I was no longer the scared lad, but now I was a young man with a goal in mind. I wanted... No I still want to be most powerful warrior to protect those I love. I want to protect everyone and I dont ever want Teucer, Tonia nor Anthon to ever have the need to pick a blade up, I don't want that future for them. I want them to have the choice to do what they want without the worry of needless wars or conflicts. I want to rule this world and to end all needless wars, I want to destroy all the archons... Including The Tsaritsa herself..."
He laughs at what he is saying "What a walking contradiction I am, huh? here you have a bloodthirsty, battle hungry war machine seeking to kill all the archons, to end all wars and needless conflicts. Ironic... But it's true girlie! You probably think I am insane..."
Lumine just stares in awe while trying to process all the information the young Fatui was sharing with her, she couldn't believe a single thing, from his confession to his true wishes. But all she could was to jump in his arms.
"Enough Childe... I am sorry I said that to you, I didn't know you felt that way about me and about everything... To be honest I feel the same for you but right now... I can't focus on anything, not after what happened to Aether. I miss him so much" she started crying and she pressed her head against his chest
"I just don't want the same thing happen to you... I don't want to lose you either... I love you too"
He smiled as those words left her lips, he gently pulls her face towards his and proceeds to kiss her softly. The soft kiss slowly but surely was becoming more intense as they continue to kiss, to them time seemed to have come to a complete stop as they continued to let their love and passion run amok. Lumine felt getting weaker only for Childe to grab her more intensely, with his right hand he started to caress her body as he kept going he tried to slip his hand underneath her dress but before he proceeded any further he said
"Girlie, if I keep going I wont be able to stop, do you want to continue? there will be no turning back after this... it's okay if you want to stop"
Lumine smiled at how thoughtful the redhead was and how he worried about her feelings, she smiled and said
"I... I am not ready for that, I do want it as much as you but I don't think this is the right time..."
Tartaglia understanding of the blonde's feelings he smiled "Alright, this is not the most romantic place after all. I am sorry, Lumi"
He sits next to her and asks "But do you still want to cuddle with me?"
she giggled "Of course, you're really silly you know that..." she proceeds to cuddle next to him in front of the fireplace.
She smiled "Thank you for always trying to take care of me, in your own weird ways.. But I am still thankful to have you with me. Back in the abyss you saved me from slipping in to the darkness"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... *Flashback*... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"TRAVELER! PLEASE WE HAVE TO GO OR ELSE THE ABYSS IS GOING TO PULL US ALL" said Zhongli as he tried reaching for her
"LUMINE! WE HAVE TO GO, PAIMON DOESN'T KNOW HOW MUCH SHE CAN LAST HERE" The little fairy said as she tried to pull her best friend
"HE IS RIGHT GIRLIE! LET'S GO" Tartaglia said as he agreed
"NO! I AM NOT LEAVING WITHOUT MY BROTHER! AETHER PLEASE!" She said as she desperately kept running towards her brother
"It's too late for me Lumine, I am one with the Abyss now. I am sorry I couldn't keep our promise" he throws his earing, Lumine somehow manages to catch it, she saw her brother swallowed by the darkness and disappearing completely
"AETHER! COME BACK PLEASE! YOU PROMISED ME! YOU PROMISED..." she shouted as she cried, she then stood up trying to jump to where he disappeared she felt someone hold her back from doing that.
"GIRLIE YOU CANT!" Childe said desperately
"LET GO OF ME ASSHOLE! I HAVE TO SAVE MY BROTHER" The blonde barked
"IT'S TOO LATE FOR HIM GIRLIE" the redhead responded
Zhongli activated his remaining archon powers to teleport the three of them back to safety
"Thanks Mr. Zhongli, one more minute in the abyss and we would have been swallowed by the darkness as well" Said Childe relieved
Zhongli stared at Lumine and saw the broken state that she was in "I am sorry traveler, I had no choice, I had to get us out of there, I am sorry we couldn't save him"
Lumine with tears in her eyes and a broken heart "No I should be the one apologizing, I shouldn't have brought you with me. I should have let the darkness swallow me as well"
Childe grabs Lumine "COMRADE! pull yourself together! You must continue, you have others that depend on you. I know how much you loved your brother and how much he meant to you but life keeps going, you must keep going girlie"
He is right... Lumine you're still here and wouldn't you think that your brother would want you to continue to keep going, maybe he couldn't fulfill his promise but by handing you his earing he somehow wanted you to continue to keep going for the both of you. I've lost many people I loved myself but I know that they would still want me to keep going and here I am thousands of years later... I wont lie the despair gets to me sometimes but then I look at you, Paimon and everyone else and I am reminded that this world still has so much to offer"
Childe then gives Lumine a big hug "Mr. Zhongli is right you must keep going..."
Lumine hugs childe back "You're right... but it's so hard... thank you both..."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... *Flashback*... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Thank you Childe... for staying with me if it wasn't for you, Zhongli, Paimon and all the friends I've met along the way I would probably have fallen to despair already. Thank you" she proceeded to give him a soft kiss on the lips they kept cuddling and watching the fire.
A/N: Okay this is where I end this chapter thank you for taking the time reading my story, constructive criticism is so welcomed.