Both she and Ajax leapt to their feet.
"What do you think that is?" He looked concerned, but there was something beneath that in his ocean-blue eyes. Adrenaline, the thrill of excitement, the desire to do something.
Lumine blinked. She could feel the energy coming up through the crust of the earth, could see a trail of amber, barely visible. When she blinked again, the trail was gone, but the call of the stone remained.
"It's something with elemental magic," Lumine realized. "Geo magic."
"Then we don't have a moment to lose." With that, Ajax vaulted over the railing and skidded off the roof, jumping to a lower tier and running.
"Hang on!" Lumine knew she didn't have that kind of parkour skill.
Instead, she flew down the stairs and onto the street. She glanced around—no sign of Ajax.
Come on, Lumi, concentrate. She pressed her fingers to her temples. She'd gotten glimpses of the elements before—but how could she see it for longer?
She closed her eyes and let herself feel the tug of the elements, the call of Geo. It rumbled beneath her feet, the most ancient and enduring thing, besides the wind above.
When she opened her eyes, she could see it—and it did not blink away. She chased after the trail, dodging cars and startled pedestrians fleeing from the screams. It all hailed from shattered rock at the side of a pavilion by the cafe.
The cars around the pavilion were abandoned, the fountain in its center was cracked with streams of water shooting out in odd angles into the air. The heart of the chaos was Hydro and Geo, with Ajax and a creature Lumine had only seen in the history books.
"That's a geovishap!" Lumine cried as the air coalesced around her in a protective shield of gales.
"I know, isn't it great?" Ajax summoned blades of water from nothing, and he leapt into action. He slashed across the geovishap's back and landed on the other side. The geovishap let out a terrible roar and curled into a ball, heading right towards Lumine.
She had no time to really react on anything other than instinct, pure and true. She stomped her foot, drawing on the power of the earth beneath her feet. With that mighty stomp, a boulder broke through the pavement and hit the geovishap before it could roll right into her.
Lumine could feel the wind around her, and she threw her arm forward, hailing the winds and calling them to her aid.
The geovishap fell back, and it started to crawl toward the road leaving out of the city with a noticeable limp. She stepped forward, only to hesitate. Despite the monster from the past's sudden appearance, it hadn't hurt anyone, and it seemed more confused than anything else. She didn't want to hurt it more than she had to.
Ajax, however, had no such reservations. Lumine couldn't bear to watch as he dealt the killing blow. She turned away and covered her ears as the geovishap let out a dying wail. Glass in the car windows broke, and for one terrible second, the city was silent.
Only Lumine's beating heart and shallow breaths remained.
A small eternity passed. Then she looked up.
Ajax stood over the fallen monster, peering down at it. A splatter of blood marred his face. His shoulders slowly rose and fell, the only sign of life to him.
Lumine ventured forward. "Ajax?"
He turned, and—
He stood in the middle of the Golden House, but it was both him and wasn't. Rather, a large monster radiating corruption and darkness stood where he once had, the singular blue eye the only remnant of Childe. Only the Harbinger and his foul legacy remained.
The Ajax of now also had dull, lifeless eyes, except for a spark of horror. He looked to her with a desperation, questions that neither of them had answers to.
"Ah, it's you two." They both turned to see Zhongli casually strolling onto the scene. "Somehow I knew I'd find you in the center of all of this trouble."
He continued to the geovishap and knelt before it. He reached a hand to its forehead and closed his eyes. He whispered something that Lumine could not comprehend. Then the geovishap sank into the ground, the pavement sealing itself behind it.
"How did you do that?" Lumine stepped forward, touching Ajax's arm for reassurance.
"I know a few things." Zhongli glanced around. "Here would not be the best place to discuss."
"Maybe we could go back to the cafe?" Lumine and Ajax shared a glance. "We never settled our tab."
"I can help with that." Zhongli smiled in that infuriating way again, as if he was in on a joke Lumine wasn't aware of. "I think I know the place, too. Well then, lead the way."
Luckily, in all of the chaos, no one made a fuss about Lumine and Ajax's brief abandonment of their breakfast, or their returning with a new guest. Rather, they returned to their breakfast and ordered a third cup of tea for Zhongli.
"What did you do back there?" Ajax asked with wide eyes.
"Something I learned how to do a long time ago." Zhongli sighed as he picked up his mug of steaming fresh tea. "I've done it more than I'd like."
Lumine frowned and looked him up and down. "You don't have a Vision."
"An astute observation." Zhongli looked to her with golden brown eyes. "You don't have one either. And yet you were able to command the elements, no?"
"That's right." Lumine tilted her head. "How did you know that?"
"A friend of mine was observing you." Zhongli took a long sip. "I do apologize for the intrusion. I thought it would be best that someone keep an eye on you until things were properly arranged."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ajax frowned.
"I have an invitation for you both." Zhongli glanced at Ajax. "You know where my apartment is, correct?"
"Yeah, we hung out there a few times."
"Come over in three days, the others should be there by then." Zhongli took another sip from his tea mug. "Then, we should be able to explain everything."
He then stood up. "I'm afraid I still have business to attend to because of last night. But I am happy to see you both around again."
He set the mug down and looked at it contemplatively. "And don't be alarmed if you see Xiao around. Do look out for him, even if I have asked him to look out for you."
With that, Zhongli disappeared down the stairs.
"Huh, so Xiao, that little guy, he's been following us?" Ajax frowned.
"I guess so." Lumine glanced around, but she couldn't spot him. She gave up and shrugged. "I don't think he means us any harm, so I'm not too worried about it."
She then looked to Ajax, and the blood splatter he had yet to wipe off his face. "Besides, we've got bigger problems."
"Yeah." Ajax knew. She could see that. "I need to know who I was, a hundred years ago."
"We don't know that it's reincarnation."
Ajax shook his head. "No, I—I felt it, him, me, whatever. In that moment, I was whoever the old me was. And it scared me. I need to find out who he is, what kind of monster he was."
Lumine raised a napkin and lifted it gently to his face. "Then I guess we need to find an Ajax from a century ago who fits the bill."
"And a Lumine." Ajax's eyes shined like the sea at midday.
She was surprised by her own gentleness, in removing the blood from his face. "Maybe a trip to Mondstadt would be in order, then."
"Why do you say that?" He leaned forward as she removed her hand.
"There's a collection of writings in the library of the Knights of Favonius." Lumine placed the ruined napkin in her pocket. "It was written by some bard a hundred years ago, it's an epic ballad recounting the era of the Ascension. It's said to be some of the most accurate and well-studied records of the previous century."
"The Ascension. . ." Ajax glanced off. "That's referring to the Eclipse Gods, isn't it? The Twins?"
"Yeah, the fallen stars from another world who overthrew the divine thrones." Lumine nodded. "We had to study parts of the poem when I was in grade school in Mondstadt."
"That's interesting, we actually would study the Fatui records." Ajax leaned back. "Rather dry, I was never good at paying attention to that stuff. Most of the records were so boring, and you had to read into everything because of how much they were lying even to themselves and the Tsaritsa. I would've rather studied fairytales and poetry."
"That's right, you're Snezhnayan." Lumine surveyed the breakfast dishes once more. "Well, I think I've absolutely stuffed myself full. What do you say about catching a train to Mondstadt?"
Ajax grinned. "I'd love to."
