Be My Eternity

by Naughty Tome

Eternity is both a curse and a blessing. It was a hard path to walk into, and she knows she has to endure any hardships that comes with it. But at least she doesn't have to walk that path alone.

3. Chapter 3

This is taking forever to get finished! I'm really sorry to make you all waiting. I was ill (And I'm still am.)

---

If Lumine thinks that her heartbreaking reunion with Aether had left her broken, then she was completely wrong.

Not for the being broken part, but for the thought that only herself who was scarred by the encounter to the point that now she's on the verge of giving up, on her adventures, her goal of finding her brother, on everything.

The little pixie, Paimon, can't help herself but to share the pain with her traveling companion too.

If Paimon thinks Lumine is broken during that day when they first met in Mondstadt, then the sight of a sulking, emotionless, and stony Lumine sitting in the corner, with her arms wrapped around her legs which she tightly hugged closer to her chest, red eyes wide open, completely dry from all the tears she shed since morning, is the pure definition of what it's like to be dead inside.

If only everything couldn't get any worse.

Ever since the two began traveling, there is one thing that Paimon noticed from the way Lumine talked and interact with the people around her. Lumine rarely ever smiled.

The blonde girl never realize it, but Paimon secretly always watched over the Traveler in concern for her well-being. Whether when she was inside or outside of her pocket dimension. Paimon may be annoying and sometimes a straight-up nuisance for Lumine during their travels. But the blonde girl never forgets about the fact that the little emergency food is the first-ever person that had shown love and kindness to the traveler ever since she arrived in this world. Or at least, that was what she would have thought if it wasn't for the throb in her head whenever she tried to think of someone she has a personal attachment to in Tevyat aside from all the friends she had made during her journey so far.

There were a few nights during their travels when the two of them have to sleep in the wild, laying on top of the grassy grounds, while their heads facing the endless starry skies above them.

Paimon isn't a big fan of camping, especially when it was windy or raining. However, despite of the fact that she could easily return to her own pocket dimension and sleeps there, there was this strange urge in her to never leave Lumine alone in the wild, especially during nighttime, so comfortable or not, the pixie just let herself endure it in exchange of ensuring Lumine's safety.

Paimon never regretted that decision though, since it allows her to learn a little bit more of the blonde girl's inner thoughts.

Back during the early days of their arrival in Mondstadt, Lumine never needs to worry about camping out in the wild since Acting Grandmaster Jean had kindly gave her a spare empty room in the Knights of Favonious headquarters as a temporary bedroom. And even when she was away from the city, there are always Dawn Winery where Master Diluc lived and freely allowed her to spend a night there whenever she was around the area.

The softness of a mattress is all the pixie needed to fall asleep almost immediately, relieving all the fatigue that has been building up inside her from floating around and watching over the Traveler all day. Not even care whether or not Lumine would join her in the Dreamworld.

But in Liyue however, things are not quite easier than it was in Mondstadt. Especially when the first-ever thing that Lumine do when she arrived in the harbor was to become a wanted suspect of the murderer of the lord of Geo, Rex Lapis.

For days, the two had to stay away from the harbor, seeking the Adepti for help in clearing their names while also exploring the vast new region in the process.

Ever since the first day they started camping in the wild, with Paimon having no choice but to join Lumine. That's when Paimon realized that Lumine is actually an insomniac. She rarely ever sleeps, whenever the two return to the Knights of Favonious headquarters, the Traveler will only pretending to be asleep whenever she doesn't feels like it, waiting for the right moment for Paimon to slumber into a deep sleep so she can quietly sneak away to do some other things during midnight without the pixie's watchful eyes before returning in the early morning.

Paimon's first reaction of course was to get furious upon learning the truth. And here she thought she had the traveler completely under her watch, but turns out, Lumine is a lot more desperate than the tiny being could ever imagine.

Paimon couldn't bring herself to be mad forever though, and so, she instead tried her best to comfort her traveling buddy, and ask her if she wants to talk about it, and to her surprise, Lumine agrees.

Lumine explained that her insomnia is caused by frequent nightmares that plagued her mind whenever she tried to close her eyes. The blonde describe that she dreamed of her brother, leaving her alone in the darkness that swallowed her whole, as if she was falling into a bottomless abyss while her brother walked away, leaving her to die as he told her that she was too late.

Aside from that dream, Lumine also has another strange nightmare that are as scary as the first one. Lumine often dreamed about people with blurry faces in unfamiliar clothes surrounding her in her dreams, their voices are heavily distorted, but she could feel how they are screaming, crying, with every bit of their voices filled her brain for what it felt like an eternity before she finally woke up with a terrible headache.

Lumine herself claimed that the second nightmare felt more like a memory instead of a simple dream, but the blonde is unable to think much about it, not when by doing so will only trigger the awful throb in her head again, making her little emergency food even more confused.

As far as Lumine remembered, she only met a handful of people in Tevyat prior to that day when Khaenri'ah was destroyed, and none of them she made a deep connection with, only conversing to state the twins' intention of arriving Tevyat after waking up from inside the meteor that they used to preserve themselves while traveling across the multiverse.

But something in the back of her mind always told her that she was wrong, that there is someone else aside from her own brother that she had bonded with in this world. Just who is this person? And where are they currently at right now?

Even Paimon noticed the inner struggle that Lumine is having, as much as cheerful and carefree she was, Paimon is a very concerned fairy who always worried for her closest friend's well-being, both for her physical and mental health.

Even when Lumine's opened up to Paimon about her past, about what she experienced when first arrived in Tevyat, and the horrifying nightmares that constantly tried to prevent her from resting, the little pixie noticed the abnormality of Lumine's tone. How all of the words that came out of the blonde's mouth felt so hollow, dry, and even lifeless sometimes. As if Lumine is telling the truth, but a good chunk of it has been missing for an unknown reason.

Paimon initially thought all that Lumine needed is company, good friends, who would stick by her side and surrounded her with love and kindness, to fill out the void inside her heart created by her separation from the only family she have left.

But now that Lumine has made a lot of them, varying from the Calvary Captain of the Knights of Favonious Kaeya or the legendary Dark Knight Hero, to the richest lady in Tevyat, the Tianquan Ningguang, or even both the Anemo and the Geo Archon themselves. Paimon realized, maybe it wasn't enough.

From all the observations the pixie did, Paimon could see the little changes in Lumine whenever she interacted with all the friends she made. The blonde girl never drop her blank and emotionless tone or the stony expression her face always made regardless of when she was alone or not. However, she did tried to be more emotional when interacting with her friends, even when her lips only managed to quirk up into the tiniest bit of smile, or when she smiled but it felt forced or hollow, as if she's just putting on a mask to ease everyone's worries and hide her true inner suffering.

As much as Paimon wants to help her best friend, to erase all the pain the Traveler shouldered for so long, or at the very least, cheer her up so that she won't be sad every now and then. Lumine herself doesn't care much for her own well-being, brushing aside all concerns her traveling companion has, and continuing her pursuit of finding her missing brother.

With the cause of Paimon's concerns herself has rejected the pixie's attempt to help her. Now it's all up to Lumine's friends to pull her out of the darkness that slowly took over her heart and mind before it's too late.

And so, in order to fulfill this goal, Paimon start in the place that came first into her mind, Wanmin restaurant.

It's been a while since the last time she visited Xiangling, Paimon tried to convince Lumine to leave her room and go with her for breakfast, but as expected, Lumine rejected the pixie's offer again just like several times before when Paimon makes multiple excuses just to bring the depressed blonde girl out of the darkness of her rented room in Wangshu Inn.

However, Paimon is already prepared for this, and so, she left her traveling buddy behind and went to Wanmin restaurant with a pouch of Mora in hand.

When she arrived there, Lumine's friends are already in there, Xiangling is busy in the kitchen, enthusiastically helping her father by serving the dishes to the customers outside. In one of the many tables, Paimon saw three people that she instantly able recognize, sitting around it. They are the Guhua-geek otherwise known as Xingqiu, his best friend Chongyun the exorcist, and also the director of Wangsheng funeral parlor, Hu Tao, is there.

Being the little pixie that she is, Paimon's appearance is indistinguishable from the other people admits the crowd that had gathered in front of the restaurant or the ones that walking down the streets. Xiangling who was in the middle of putting the ordered dishes on the tables where the other three was sitting, noticed Paimon's presence, and with a bright smile, the bluenette waved her and tell her to come closer. And Paimon did.

"Hey Paimon, it's been a while." While still smiling, Xiangling gives the pixie a nod. At the mention of her name, the other three instantly turned their head to look at her as well.

"Hello there, friend. Are you here for breakfast as well?" Putting on his usual polite smile, Xingqiu greeted his friend. "Since you're here, does that mean Lumine are also in Liyue?"

"Yup. We've just come back from our trip to Mondstadt three days ago. We have been through a lot, and we even encountered a new type of enemies that we have never seen before." Paimon explained, deep inside, she tried hard to bury her inner worries for Lumine, opting to wait for the perfect moment to explain it later on.

"Ooh, that's sounds really interesting!" Hu Tao perked up, the cherry blossoms inside her eyes sparkled with interest. "I can't wait to hear your stories, hehehe."

"Oh, and speaking of that, where is the Traveler? Is she not coming with you Paimon?" It's Chongyun's turn to ask, and for Paimon, this is the cue for her to start explaining things.

"Yeah... About that." Sighing heavily, Paimon gave each of them a somewhat saddened look, before beginning her explanation.

"Well, you see, we came across this strange guy called Dain, he agreed to become Lumi's companion after she answered some of his questions, we then tracked down this monster who called itself an Abyss Herald, and then suddenly, we discovered that the prince of the Abyss Order is Lumi's brother all along."

---

It was this place again.

Alone, sinking deeper and deeper into the murky ocean of pure darkness, with no warmth to comfort her, no light to protect her, she couldn't even feel her own body temperature, as if she was encased inside a thick block of ice.

Lumine stared blankly into the surface of the murky ocean. Although she was unable to see anything due to the intense darkness of her surroundings, her dull golden eyes are able to make out the ghostly image in front of her.

Golden hair, the same color as her hair albeit a bit more darker than hers. Golden eyes, the same colour as her eyes, but not as dark and dull as she was right now.

The braid of his hair softly swayed to the side as if an unseen winds had passed them both but she was unable to feel it.

The expression on his face... It wasn't not the same one Lumine saw back in that cursed domain. His eyes did not contain the cold and lifeless gaze that he gave her when he explained those things about Khaenri'ah, the gold on his eyes glimmers like a distant star, it may not shine as brightly as before that day when Khaenri'ah is destroyed, but even so, seeing the the tiniest glimmer inside his eyes are more than enough to fill Lumine with some sense of nostalgia, back during simpler days when the two of them are inseparable, always back-to-back, holding each others closely at their hearts.

He was Aether, her big brother, her twin, the missing half of her whole being.

She has spent months wandering Tevyat with just one goal in mind, to find him, to bring him home, wherever their home was, as long as they are together, nothing else matters to Lumine anymore.

But now, with Aether himself rejected her, choosing the affairs of this world over her own little sister, his flesh and blood, and leaving her alone again in this cruel and unforgiving world. She doesn't know what to do anymore.

Lumine closed her eyes and lets out a small scoff, avoiding the gaze of her brother's ghostly image as it feels outright mocking from him to make such a gentle expression like that when she already saw how cold and emotionless he was back then during their reunion.

"What do you want, Aether?" Lumine manage to croak out even when she felt like her lungs has been filled with the murky water around her, and her head is aching from all the stress and pressure she has shouldered for the last three days of solitude in her room.

There was only silence that comes next, even with her eyes closed, Lumine could feel her brother's image is frowning from her question. Not a frown formed because of anger or annoyance, but something akin to a mix of sadness and perhaps some degree of pity.

"Lumine..." After what it felt like hours, Aether's voice entered her ears. The way his voice sounded is just like what she always used to hear, filled with gentleness and affection whenever he addressed his beloved sister, a tone that never changes even when after he became the leader of the Abyss Order.

Letting out a small huff of annoyance, Lumine didn't bother to open her eyes as she questioned the apparitions once again. "Let me guess, are you here to tell me that I'm too late again? Are you going to leave me again? Not just in my dreams, but in the real world as well?"

Lumine's tone sounds tired, pathetic. The darkness of her thoughts had swallowed her mind, making her unable to think anything other than the fact that she has been left alone by the one and only family she has, the big brother that she used to always look up to, the one she eagerly followed his footsteps, and whom she always rely on whenever she had difficulties during their times traveling from world to world back in the past. Oh, just how much simpler back then when the two are always together, coming to Tevyat is just a big mistake, if only they didn't get allured by its deadly beauty, if only they don't stick around just to watch the world burns, maybe they will still be happy together.

"I..." Aether sounds hesitant to answer, but Lumine didn't bother to hear the rest of the sentence.

"If you're going to tell me that or any of those Khaenri'ah stories, then save it." letting out a heavy sigh, Lumine relaxed her body and let herself sink even deeper into the depts of the murky ocean. "I'm tired Aether. I'm tired of any of this..."

There's no response from Aether, and Lumine who still has her eyes closed thought that maybe her brother's apparition has finally left her.

"I always thought I've been on the right this whole time, even though admittedly I don't care if what I'm doing is right or wrong. The Fatui has harmed many people in pursuit of power by collecting the Gnoses... but for what? And the Abyss order... the enemy of humanity... is actually the people of Khaenri'ah themselves?"

The darkness around her felt sickening, Lumine could feel them, how they felt like hundreds of claws scratching every inch of her body as if to tear it open so they could fill out the emptiness of her heart, corrupting her from the inside and the outside simultaneously.

"Why is everything suddenly become complicated?" wave of unconsciousness slowly washed over her mind, she was fully aware that once she got swayed by it, she might not be able to come back anymore. But Lumine doesn't care, this world is deceased, and she doesn't have any desire to walk in it anymore.

"Why can't we... just... being together... again..."

Letting her last breath, Lumine's limp body landed on the bottom of the ocean, and despite being in a dream, she could feel the water pressure crushing her bones, the coldness of the dark froze her body, and her heartbeat became slower and slower until it came to a stop.

The light is about to vanish, leaving nothing but darkness inside her soul.

But it refused.

"How long are you going to be like this, Lumine?" With a sigh, Aether's voice rang in her ears.

Lumine could feel warm hands placed on her shoulders, tempting the blonde girl to open her eyes even just for a little. What she saw was her brother's face with his lips in a form of a small smile that radiates pity and sadness but also a slight encouragement and gentleness.

That smile, she remembers it now. It was a smile that Aether always gives her whenever she was sad, whenever she felt weak and hopeless, her brother would always comfort her, telling her it was okay, and that he will always be with her. Even by seeing it causes a wave of nostalgia hits her hard, washing away some of the darkness that invades her heart.

"I may not be the Aether that you seek, but I am a part of your subconsciousness, the one that you have lost all those years ago."

Lumine stared into Aether's eyes, her mind is still not fully working to comprehend the words that he just said. "My subconsciousness?"

"Listen to me, sister." Aether's voice sounds stern, just like back then during times when he teached her languages of the worlds they visited. "You are stuck here in Tevyat, without powers, without wings, without anything but your desire to reunite with the missing half of your soul, and why is that?"

"I... want to see him again... to bring him home... wherever that is." Lumine answered, the hands of Aether's apparition drifted down from her shoulders to the palm of her hands.

"That is correct. And home is wherever we are together, remember?" Aether intertwined his fingers with Lumine, the girl could feel how the warm sensation slowly spread from her hands up to her chest where her heart is located, it felt so comfortable that she fail to notice how her body slowly start to ascend back to the surface of the murky water.

"Yes... Yes, that's right, home is when we are together again." Lumine muttered, letting a single tear escape from the corner of her eyes. "Then why wouldn't you come with me, brother? Why did you leave me again?"

Aether softly shook his head, giving her another smile. "I'm not leaving you, sister, I will always be here, only distance and the truth of this world that truly separate us. That is why you can't give up now, because there are people out there who needs you." he explained, tightening his grip and continuing to pull Lumine even more to the surface.

"But Aether... why can't you just simply come back? Why do you even bother to interfere with the affairs of this world?" Lumine asked, probably for a hundredth time this day.

Aether sighed, closing his eyes. "There are simply matters that cannot be left alone in this world, Lumine." He said, his tone is somber. "It is said that a world is bound by a chain known as destiny, and this world's destiny is nothing but a gigantic hoax."

Opening his eyes, Aether looked directly at Lumine, gold meets gold.

"But we are not from this world, are we?"

Lumine doesn't answer, but Aether takes the silence as yes.

"That is why you have to know the truth of this world as well, dear sister of mine." Aether's fingers loosened and despite of Lumine's best effort to hold their intertwined fingers, she couldn't move her body.

"It won't be an easy journey, but if you pay attention to your other lights instead of choosing mine alone, then at least they will help you to reach the end of your journey." Aether's grip loosened even more.

"My other light? What do you mean, Aether? You... you are the only reason why I started the journey, you are the only light I have in my heart right now." Lumine tried to grasp Aether's fingers again to no avail.

"Do you really believe that?" Aether sighed again when Lumine tilted her head in confusion. "It seems like your memories are broken, I should've expected this to happen, but no matter, given time, it'll soon recover."

Aether's hold on Lumine's hand finally released, separating the two, and Lumine could feel the ghostly image of her brother is fading away.

"Wait, Don't go! I need you to tell me!"

"I'm nothing but a part of your subconsciousness speaking to you, Lumine." Aether closed his eyes again, preparing to completely fade away. "As long as you haven't fully recovered yet, I cannot tell you anything but to continue your journey. One day, you will find that other light."

A bright light appeared beyond the surface of the ocean, and Lumine could faintly hear the faint sound of someone calling her name, someone with a familiar voice.

"Until then, please take care of yourself and your friends, you need them, as they need you." And with those final words, Aether's apparition disappear, letting Lumine ascend the murky water by herself as the surface is now just within an arms reach.

Gripping her palms tightly, Lumine reached up into the surface, determination burning in her eyes as she finally came out of the darkness and flew towards the light even though she no longer has wings like she used to.

"If that's what you wanted, Aether, then fine. I don't care if you're my twin or not, if you're the leader of the Abyss order or not, I will smack you, I will smack you until you snap out of it and agreed to come back with me to our home!"

Entering the light, Lumine escaped the darkness of her heart and back into the real world.

---

"Lumi! Lumi! Wake up! Wake up!"

Lumine regained her consciousness, and the first thing she saw was Paimon frantically slapping her cheeks and telling her to wake up, she also realized her current position, sitting in the corner of her rented room on Wangshu Inn, hair's messy, and she only wears her underclothes because she had locked herself here for three days straight doing nothing but wept over her inability to bring Aether home.

She waved a single hand to bat Paimon's hands away, making the little emergency food yelped as she didn't expect a response from the blonde girl this quick.

Paimon gasped when she realized this and quickly squeezed Lumine's cheeks as she stared directly into her eyes. "Lumi you're awake! Paimon thought you would never wake up, so Paimon has no choice but to hurt you a little."

Lumine stared into the little pixie's black eyes, full of worry and concern for her best buddy. Since she's just awoken from that deep slumber, Lumine's head is not fully working yet, so it took some time for her to process the information.

"Paimon... Is that you?" Lumine asked, the tone of her voice is still low and husky as usual.

"Of course it's me you dummy! Don't tell Paimon you forgot her after all that she did for-"

Paimon is unable to finish her sentence when Lumine suddenly grabs her and pulls her close to her chest, hugging her tightly like a soft plushie that brings comfort to one's heart during hard times.

"Lumi?" Paimon asked, a bit hesitant as Lumine didn't say anything but continued to hug her little friend.

"Sorry, Let me... Hold you for a while." Lumine whispered as she closed her eyes and let herself relaxed from the warmth Paimon provided.

Five minutes passed, Lumine finally calms down, releasing Paimon and letting the tiny being backed away from the blonde girl to watch her rub her eyes and sigh in relief.

"Lumi... Are you having a nightmare again?" After five minutes of silence, Paimon finally asked, watching as Lumine gave her a small nod.

"Yes... It's the dream where I got drowned in an ocean of darkness again." Lumine answered, sighing heavily. "And Aether... Aether was there as well."

Paimon widened her eyes when she heard that, the pixie can imagine how painful it must be for Lumine to not only get abandoned by her brother, but also get haunted by many nightmares about him.

"Um... Do you need some time alone? Paimon asked, tilting her head and putting her hand on her back.

"No need. I'm fine now, thanks Paimon... For everything." Sighing Lumine stands up and stretches her arms upwards.

"Are you sure? You were all sad and sulky, and all of a sudden you're now okay?"

"I'm still a little bit sad that Aether had left me, however, in my nightmare, I realize that crying over it was a total waste of time and it won't bring him back to me no matter how hard I cried." Sighing, Lumine looked down at her palm, the one that Aether holds while she was still in her dreams. "Now that I know he's the prince of the Abyss Order, all I need to do is to continue my journey and learn about the truth of this world. Only then I would be able to see my brother again."

And also figure out what he meant by my other light.

Paimon watched as Lumine tightly clenched her fist, determination burns brightly inside her eyes. With a big smile, the little pixie nodded her head in approval.

"Great! That's the spirit!" She cheered while doing a summersault in the air. "Since now that you are better, we can't let everyone keep waiting for you, let's go!"

Confused, Lumine tilted her head as she looked at Paimon. "Huh? Where?"

Paimon pointed her tiny thumb towards her back, and that's when Lumine realized that the two weren't alone the entire time.

"Huh, Lady Keqing... And Ganyu? Since when..."

"Hello, Lumine." Keqing gave the Traveler a small wave as the purplenette approached her. "We have been here for about five minutes. When we arrived, you were sitting in that corner looking absolutely miserable, you're not even blinking or breathing, so Paimon starts panicking and that's when you woke up." Keqing explained, looking at Lumine in slight worry.

"Oh, I see, I'm sorry for the trouble." Rubbing the back of her head, Lumine clears her throat and asked again. "So... What are you doing here? Is there anything that I need to do for you?"

"There is absolutely nothing you need to do for us, Lumine, you have done enough." Ganyu shook her head as she put a hand on her chest. "We are here to pick you up because there is something that everyone in Liyue has been prepared for you."

"Uh... What?" Lumine cannot understand what the two members of the Liyue Qixing are talking about, something that everyone has been preparing? Does she mean a gift of some sort?

"We'll tell the details on our way to the harbor. Why don't you clean yourself up before we go? We'll tidy up the room."

Lumine was about to say something to Keqing but immediately decided against it, uttering a simple thanks to the Yuheng instead. It's been three days, both herself and her room is in a really messy state and she appreciates the help she gets to tidy them up.

---

"Ta-da! This is our new home!"

Lumine stared in awe and shock at what was in front of her, mouth agape, and golden eyes widened.

Paimon along with Ganyu and Keqing had brought her to Yujing Terrace for no reason that night, halfway through the stairway, the little pixie urged her to put on a blindfold for some reason claiming it was needed so the present would be more surprising.

With both Keqing and Ganyu telling her to put on the blindfold as well, Lumine reluctantly agreed before ascending the rest of the staircase.

Once they've reached the destination, the three then made her touch something, something round and hard that felt like ceramic, resulting in a familiar sensation of being sucked into a vortex of air as she felt her body getting shrunk.

And here she is, in the middle of a grassy mountain peak with a two-story tall Liyuean Mansion standing before her, and all of her friends from Liyue and some other people that she hasn't met yet waiting at the terrace of the mansion.

Lumine's friends who had gathered in front of the mansion welcomed her. Xiangling immediately approached and hugged her with Chongyun and Xingqiu followed behind.

"What is this?" Lumine asked in disbelief, her mind unable to comprehend what's just happened.

"It's an Adepti abode all for yourself! You finally have a home to return into now." Xiangling answered, giving her blonde friend a smile.

"And Adepti abode? You mean like the one that Madame Ping has?"

"Uh-huh! And it's a lot bigger too!" This time, Paimon was the one who answered.

Lumine take a look again at her friends, all of them gave her a welcoming warm smile, a smile that she always gets whenever she returned back to Mondstadt city or Liyue Harbour after a tiring day of adventures in the wild, a smile that always makes her feels like home for some reason.

Sighing, Lumine shook her head. "Why did you guys even bother? You don't need to do all of this for-"

"Just like when you didn't have to help us defending Liyue Harbour from Osial. And yet you still lend us your help." Keqing replied from behind her, giving her a soft smile and a pat on a shoulder.

"It was a spur of the moment. My original goal is to talk to Rex Lapis, and the revival of Osial is just an obstacle that gets in my way, that's all."

"Nevertheless, without you Lumine, Liyue Harbour might've completely erased from the map by now, and countless people will go down along with it." Keqing explained, giving the blonde girl a stern but gentle look.

"We would like to show you our gratitude for everything you've done, not just for that day when you help us defeat Osial, but also when you help all of us during our times in need. So please, accept this present from all of us your friends." Ganyu said with a soft smile on her face.

Friends... So this is how it feels to be surrounded by love and kindness.

But why does it feel so familiar? Lumine felt like she had experienced something similar like this before, but where? She has some friends back in Mondstadt too, but never before she feels like this when she was interacting with the friends that she made there.

Could this be what the Aether of her dream talked about? About her memories being broken? Is she actually-

"Guh!" A sudden sharp throb of pain in her head caused her to groan, clutching her forehead in her fist as the pain become even more unbearable.

"H-Hey! Lumi, what's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Paimon began panicking again.

Opening an eye open, Lumine saw how everyone gives her a worried glance, and the pain is suddenly gone as fast as it first came.

Sighing in relief, Lumine release her clutches and shook her head. "I'm... I'm fine Paimon, it's just one of those headaches again." Saying this, the blonde girl smiled a little as she sighed again. "I can't believe you guys went all this way just for me. I assume there are other surprises that you wanna show me?"

"Yup! We've been preparing a feast inside, come on! Let's go!"

Lumine lets herself get dragged by Xiangling into the mansion, with her other friends soon following after.

What Xiangling said is true, inside the mansion, tables with multiple variants of dishes have awaited for them to eat. In the midst of the feast, Lumine talked to her friends and came to learn about how this teapot came to be.

Apparently, at today's morning, Paimon came to Wanmin restaurant for breakfast and met with Xiangling, Hu Tao, Xingqiu, and Chongyun, some of the closest friends Lumine made during her time in Liyue. After disappearing for more than two weeks, they were worried about her, which is why the first thing they did when they met Paimon is ask about Lumine's well-being, prompting the little pixie to explain about her brief reunion with Aether.

From that point, the news quickly spread amongst the rest of her friends. Wanting to find a way to cheer her up, they collectively decided to give her a present that would make her journey much more easier, and they did this by asking Madame Ping to craft her own abode where she can live.

The inside of the mansion is mostly empty aside for several furnitures like tables and chairs that are used during this event. Zhongli said that an Adepti abode is a place where the natural physics of the world did not work, and its existence is bent freely by the owner's mind.

That's also when Lumine was introduced to Tubby the teapot spirit, or Rain Calmer, an Adeptus who was a close friend of Madame Ping that resides inside the teapot and will become Lumine's assistant from this point onwards.

The feast went smoothly, everyone looked so happy, and Lumine couldn't help it but to let herself enjoy the small party as well.

"Are you having fun?" Zhongli asked, the two are sitting side by side on the terrace, enjoying the fake scenery of a night sky inside the teapot.

"Hmm, I did, even for a little... it eases the pain away." Lumine answered, to be honest, she did feel better than ever before. "Now that I have found him, I think it's time for me to continue my search for the rest of the Seven in Inazuma now."

Zhongli nodded, taking a sip from the cup of tea he was holding. "When are you going to leave?"

"I don't really know." Lumine shook her head, sighing. "No ordinary boats want to take me there. It seems like I need a help or two from lady Ningguang for this matter."

They continue to sit there in silence, sipping their respective cup of tea while enjoying the scenery and the breeze of winds that swayed their hair softly.

"What does Inazuma look like?" After a while, Lumine finally asked.

"It was a nation where sakura trees can only grow in Tevyat. Unlike Liyue and Mondstadt, Inazuma is composed of multiple islands, each of them has its own unique environment and landscape. Inazuma city, the nation's capital is located in Narukami island, where the majority of the populace lived." Zhongli explained in detail, with Lumine nodding in understandment.

"I see, that sounds interesting."

The rest of the night then went on with Lumine listening to Zhongli's explanation. Despite of hearing such information for the first time, for some reason, Lumine felt like she have heard someone explained the same thing to her before, but she was unable to remember who it was or when she first heard it.

On the very next day, Lumine did what she planned, she goes to meet Ningguang for help, and the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing introduced her to Beidou, the captain of the Crux Fleet, Ningguang's old acquaintance, and the owner of the ship that was parked near the Guyun Stone Forest known as the Alcor.

And it was thanks to the help of these two women, Lumine finally arrived in Inazuma.

---

"So this is Inazuma."

As she leaned against the railings of the Alcor, Lumine set her gaze upon the land of eternity for the first time.

With the bright red sunsets on the west, an island filled with maple trees not far from them, and a busy-looking harbor filled with the locals, the scenery brings some unexplainable relief into Lumine's heart upon seeing the land, especially after drifting amidst the sea for several days.

It was quite surprising, to say the least. Lumine already anticipated that it will be different looking than both Mondstadt and Liyue, but she never thought the difference could be this bizarre.

Not only the colors of the trees are different, but even the color of the grass is also different.

"Hehe, are you surprised?" Besides her, the boy who has been always with her for the last couple of days while they were still sailing through the ocean, known as Kazuha, said with a smile on his face. "This is the scenery that I've been seeing ever since the day I was born. Whenever I have the chance to return back here, I always get reminded of back during the simpler times when me and my friend used to wander these lands seeking for a worthy battle."

Lumine nodded in reply. Not only a poet, Kazuha is also a great storyteller, for a few days, She has been listening to all of his stories about back when he was a samurai wandering Inazuma with a friend. Needless to say, all of his stories are really great to hear, especially when it was in the middle of a night, when it was just the two of them hanging out watching the starry night sky.

As the Alcor preparing to dock at the harbor, and the Inazuma island becoming more and more closer, Lumine thinks this is probably the last time the two are going to meet in a while.

Turning her face towards the white-haired boy, she sighed. "I guess this is where we part ways then, I'm going to miss your company a lot, Kazuha."

"Likewise, Lumine." The boy gives her a solemn nod along with a gentle smile. "It's really a shame that I'm still a wanted person by the shogunate, otherwise I'd like to show you around of what I think are the most beautiful places in Inazuma."

"Yeah... it's a real shame." The blonde girl muttered.

She really wants to spend more time with him, Kazuha has become another special person that Lumine wished to cherish in Tevyat. She still freshly remembered the first time the two of them meet, how she briefly mistaken him for Aether until Paimon finally convinced her that he wasn't.

His hair looked almost like him, it wasn't as long, only a short ponytail instead of a braid, and the color is different too, a platinum blonde instead of gold, with a single red streak on the right side of his head.

Despite of the obvious differences, it still gives her a pause, to stop in her tracks and looked at his face properly. And when the realization hits her, a new kind of pain quickly began to took over her mind again.

Paimon seemed to understand this but didn't say much, letting Lumine to deal with the situation herself.

Kazuha also seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil at first, paying no mind to the way she very casually talked to him in a relaxed and casual manner despite of the fact that they just met and barely know each other.

But as the sharp and quick-witted person that he is however, it wasn't long until her facade is broken. He catch glimpses of the way her eyes changed when she was looking at him, the way it softened and filled with longing and a well-hidden sadness that he could not decipher at first, but eventually came into an understanding once the little pixie known as Paimon explained things to him in secrets at night time.

It wasn't until just a day before they arrived in Inazuma when the mask was broken.

Unable to sleep, the blonde-haired Traveler stands alone at the Alcor's deck, looking up to the starry night skies above, reflecting over her journey across both the nation of Mondstadt and Liyue, while simultaneously worrying about her dear brother's condition, trying to figure out what made him so different than what she remembers him.

Unknown to Lumine, at the same time that night, Kazuha is also awake and currently sitting on the quarterdeck, carefully listening to the whispers of sadness and conflicting emotions that were coming from the girl and were brought by winds to his ear. Deciding that he had listened enough of her sad mumbling after a certain amount of time, the white-haired boy finally revealed his presence, surprising the blonde girl who immediately realizes she has been eavesdropped.

The two would ended up spending the rest of the night together. Kazuha revealed that he knows about Lumine's troubles from Paimon, about how she was looking for her missing twin, and that he has some resemblance of the brother she was looking for, the cause of her sadness, and the reason of the way she acts around him in a such casual and almost clingy way.

After a long silence, Lumine suddenly apologized, she was sorry to both him and herself, for viewing him as someone else instead of himself, and for pretending him as her big brother as a coping mechanism for her pathetic self.

The man didn't get angry or feel offended like Lumine thought he would, instead, giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder and telling her that the only person she's hurting is her own self, and that he didn't mind pretending, as long as it was helpful to ease the pain inside her heart away.

And that's how they ended up becoming such a close friend right now.

After bidding another farewell again to each other. Lumine finally stepped out of the Alcor, taking her first step on the land of eternity. Not even a second later, she could already feel all the stares that some people in the harbor directed at her, it was the same exact feeling that she get during her first visit to Mondstadt and Liyue, her exotic traveling clothing is all it needs for people to know her identity as an outlander that came from a distant land.

Captain Beidou also stepped out of her ship shortly after, gesturing Lumine to follow her as they walked further into the harbor. Since this was both their first time coming here, Lumine and Paimon couldn't help themselves but to get transfixed by the sight around them. As the two are glancing around while still following Beidou, a blonde-haired man in red clothing who was flipping a coin in his hand spotted them in the corner of his eye, and wasted no time to get up and walk up to them with a wave of his hand and a warm smile.

"Ahoy, there!" The man greeted as he carefully inspects the three of them respectively.

Lumine looked at the man in front of him, the way he greeted and acts friendly towards them strangely reminds her of when she first met Childe, one of the eleven Fatui Harbingers, and the only one that she managed to become friends of. Come to think of it, Lumine thinks they're about the same height as well.

"So, you finally made it. You sure kept me waiting, captain." Sending the Crux Fleet captain a nod, the man then turned his head to look at Lumine and Paimon. "And, it appears we have a couple of stowaways... Or perhaps I should say... honored guests."

"Hey! shush!" After hearing that last sentence, Paimon quickly silenced him, putting her tiny index finger on her mouth.

Meanwhile, Lumine simply put her hand on her sides as she watched the ensuing conversation.

"You can blame your Almighty Shogun for that. The tempests around Inazuma have growing all the more fierce lately. Though the fleet was fully up to the challenge, the inclement weather still caused some delay." Sighing heavily, Beidou shook her head slightly before turning around to look at Lumine and Paimon.

"Now then, let me introduce everyone. This is Thoma, a trade partner that I've gotten to know recently." She said while gesturing her hand towards the blonde man behind her.

Thoma smiled as he gave them a playful wave of his hand. "Heh, you don't know how long I've been waiting to see you."

"Nice to meet you, Thoma." Lumine simply said with a nod.

"Thoma, these are-"

"There's no need for introductions, captain, their reputation precedes them. Seems even the stormy seas can't keep rumors of these outlanders' sterling deeds at bay." Thoma interrupted, his eyes did not leave Lumine, and the smile on his face never fell.

His words made Lumine narrow her eyes. Surely whatever rumors that made their way to Inazuma are exaggerating. Sure, she has saved both Mondstadt and Liyue from their respective crisis, be it from the Fatui or the Abyss Order. But even so, she couldn't do it all by herself and that she has her friends and companions who helped her solve the situations, they too deserve the fame and admiration she gets.

"Hehe, it's sure nice to hear you say that~" With a smile, Paimon giggled as she put her arms behind her back.

"Ha, with any luck, it'll give you a head start here. Thoma has resided on Ritou for quite some time now. It wouldn't be going too far to say he's the fixer around these parts." Beidou said before reaching out and giving Lumine a pat on her shoulder. "If you run into any problems here, just talk to Thoma. But if he tries to pull any moves on you, I'll be sure to deal with him personally the next time I'm around, okay?" The pirate captain asked with what Lumine thought must be a wink, it's really hard to tell since Beidou wears an eye patch.

Beidou's statement caused Thoma to laugh, with his hand clutching his stomach. "Oh, come now, captain, there's no need to worry about it, I'm sure we'll get along just fine, right traveler?" Thoma asked, receiving a simple nod from the blonde-haired girl.

"Good. Then if it's all settled, I'll be going." Turning around, Beidou looked at Lumine and whispered. "I wouldn't want to be caught with my sails down here, I do have a wanted fugitive on board, after all."

"Oh, right. Kazuha..." Paimon muttered, nodding in understanment.

"Until next time, Traveler. Remember to give it your all no matter what perilous "storms" you may encounter, okay?"

"I will." Lumine nodded. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again."

After exchanging nods of respect, Beidou finally leaves, leaving Lumine alone with Paimon in this completely new region that she has to explore. Remembering the events that happened during her first day in Liyue several months ago, Lumine knew Inazuma will not be the more easier.

Taking a deep breath, the girl turned around to face her newfound friend.

"Now then, first thing first, we need to get you registered at the border checkpoint."

---

Lumine knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

After what happened in both Liyue and Mondstadt before, she should've realized that it was inevitable for her to get roped into a nations' crisis whilst in search for information regarding her older brother.

Only this time, it was much more dire than the previous ones.

She wasn't tasked to slay an evil god, or saved a dragon from corruption. Instead, she was asked to help a rebellion against the Vision Hunt Decree, a decree issued by the Raiden Shogun herself, the supreme deity who ruled Inazuma.

Lumine herself had planned to meet the almighty Shogun to ask some questions regarding the Abyss Order and the destruction of Khaenri'ah that happened 500 years ago, but joining the rebellion against the Vision Hunt Decree and opposing the will of the Raiden Shogun is definitely not on her to-do list.

Even so, meeting the Shogun is no small feat, especially for an outlander such as herself.

In order to formally meet the Archon of Inazuma, Lumine requires the permission of one of the three commissions that managed the affairs of Inazuma, the Tenryou commission, the Kanjou commission, or the Yashiro commission.

Out of all three, Lumine choose the Yashiro commission to be the one suitable to arrange a meeting between her and Electro Archon, the reason being the fact that Thoma is actually the housekeeper for the Kamisato clan, the family who is currently led the commission.

After successfully escaping from Ritou, and finding the Kamisato estate, Lumine met with the Shirasagi Himegimi, or Kamisato Ayaka, the eldest daughter of the Kamisato clan, and also the face of the Yashiro commission.

What Lumine expected to be a business talk between her and the Shirasagi Himegimi turns out just to be another request for the Traveler to join the war against the vision hunt decree which Lumine quickly decline, stating that she never intended to start a war and she only came here for the Raiden Shogun.

It was only after the blonde girl prepared to leave that the Princess finally promised to set up a meeting between Lumine and the Raiden Shogun, but under one condition for her to fulfill three wishes: to see and help three individuals who had got their Visions taken by the Tenryou commission.

Seeing no other choices, Lumine accepts. It's quite obvious the objective behind the mission is: they want to make her more empathetic to their cause, and showcase that the people are hurting from the decree. Lumine thinks that she already understands well enough, but she'll do it if it means gaining an audience with the Raiden Shogun.

Ever since the day she heard about the Vision Hunt Decree from Zhongli, Lumine always wondered, is losing a vision a really bad thing? She has seen many people throughout her journey across both Mondstadt and Liyue, both normal people and vision wielders. To Lumine, both people are mostly the same, they eat, they sleep, they work. There are almost no differences between them aside from the ability to control elemental powers, and removing them should only render them back into their powerless state before they gained their Vision, right?

That's what Lumine initially thought. But now that she has seen it herself, Lumine realized that she was wrong, mostly anyways.

These people... From a village guardian, to a former Shogunate samurai, and now this swordmaster, they're all suffering from the loss of their Visions.

Visions are the source of powers for mankind in Tevyat, and with great power came great aspirations. aspirations are one of the most important aspects of human nature, it was a part of a human life, and having it taken away so suddenly will surely shatter one of the pillars that hold that human's life.

It was like a part of that person has been missing.

Literally.

Lumine discovers that there's one thing in common that these three people suffered from having their Visions confiscated, it was memory loss or amnesia.

The village guardian, Tejima, forgot that he once wrote a diary in which he was waiting for someone dear to him in Bourou village, meanwhile the former Shogunate samurai, Kurosawa, completely forgets about his daily routines of delivering goods to the people around his residence, causing him to be hated by the people he had helped in the past.

As the mission goes on, Lumine could feel the building pain in both of her heart and her head.

She can fully understand the pain and suffering these people went through, the feeling of losing a part of oneself, and the memory loss that followed after. After getting separated from Aether, Lumine too felt like she loses a part of her existence, and the frequent headache along with the unrecognizable flashes of memories she didn't remember having also signifies about a loss of memory too. The Shirasagi Himegimi's attempt to make her understand the pain that the decree has brought is successful.

Lumine watched the ensuing conversation between the two swordmasters, Domon and Anzai. What was previously thought to be a possession by an evil spirits turns out to be a simple traumatic PTSD triggered by the loss of Domon's Vision. He became emotionally unstable and starts blabbering meaningless words as well as calling names of the people related to him.

In the end, his friend and rival, Anzai, managed to calm him down, telling him to pass on his legacies and Ambitions to his apprentices, finally freeing him from the trance-like state, and the two rivals along with their apprentices eventually go home.

"Oh... This is really awful. Paimon felt bad for these people, who knew losing a Vision could impact their lives this greatly?" The little pixie muttered, looking really sad for the three people they just met.

Lumine only nodded in response. She's seen enough now, the vision hunt decree should be... No. It must be stopped.

Sighing, Lumine gestured her companion to follow her. "Let's go Paimon, I've seen enough for today." Paimon nodded, and when the pair was just about to leave, a shrine maiden stopped them.

"Traveler, a moment, please. Lady Yae have some words for you."

That made Lumine stop in her tracks. She had almost forgotten about the presence of the Guuji of Grand Narukami Shrine, the train of thoughts inside her head had distracted her enough to not pay attention to the way the Kitsune had sneaked a glance towards her when she first arrived at the shrine.

Turning around, Lumine came face to face with the head shrine maiden. The way her purple eyes inspect Lumine from head to toe, makes her feel naked for some reason. The Kitsune's eyes are sharp, calculative, and the way her lips are pressed together makes it look like she was deep in thought, but Lumine wonders what was she thinking about.

After what it felt like minutes. The head shrine maiden finally breaks the silence, her lips parted as she said:

"...So, my intuition is correct." She puts her hands on her sides as her purple eyes stared directly into Lumine's gold ones. "...The wind that blows from afar carries fresh life to these shores..."

The Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine sighed as she closed her eyes and softly shook her head.

"Who would've thought this is the way we're going to meet again." Yae narrowed her eyes as she looked down towards Lumine with an expression she cannot describe.

"Again?" Lumine raised an eyebrow, didn't understand what the Guuji just said.

"Nevertheless, you set foot on this island at precisely the right moment." Yae said again, ignoring Lumine's question.

Lumine was about to ask again but the head shrine maiden suddenly approached her, causing her to pause.

However, Yae did not stop and was instead walked past her. Just as Yae was about to walk past Lumine, time seemed to slow down, Lumine could not feel anything or hear anything except for the sound of Yae's breathing and voice.

"I have high hopes for you. Don't disappoint me... Lumine."

Lumine widened her eyes when she heard her name. How did she know?

The blonde girl quickly turned around to face the woman, but Kitsune is nowhere to be seen, as if she just disappeared into thin air.

"Huh, where did the fox lady go?" Paimon too sounded confused, looking around for the pink-haired woman, but is unable to spot her anywhere.

Lumine has several questions for that shrine maiden, but it could wait for another time. For now, she need to report back to Ayaka.

---

The two arrived back to the Kamisato estate to report their completion of the three wishes Ayaka gave them. And now that the favor has been completed, Ayaka finally showed her face to the Traveler, a young girl with ice blue hair, with eyes having the same color as her hair.

Apparently, fulfilling her wishes has granted Lumine and Paimon the qualifications to be her friends, that's why she is able to freely express herself in front of them now.

Turns out, being the daughter of the Kamisato clan, and the face of the Yashiro commission prevented Ayaka from having many friends due to people seeing her having higher standards than ordinary people, with Thoma being her first and foremost friend.

Paimon asked her for more questions, and eventually accepted Ayaka's friend request. But Lumine on the other hand is less interested in the topic and was more focused on thinking about those who had lost their Visions, particularly about what will become of them in the future if they never regained their Vision. And also about that Yae Miko, what did she meant about meeting her again? Did they ever met before? Thinking about it causes some uncomfortable feeling to creep out into Lumine's mind. Seems like Inazuma holds more mysteries than she thought.

"Traveler?"

Thoma's voice snapped Lumine back to reality, she glanced around the room to find everyone is looking at her in concern, they must've noticed her absurd silence ever since she returned back to the estate.

"Apologies, I just got lost in thoughts for a second there. What did you ask me again?" Lumine asked, looking at Ayaka with narrowed eyes while putting her hands on her sides.

Ayaka clears her throat before asking again. "You have now witnessed the pain of those deprived of their Visions... What are your feelings on what you have seen?"

"It was a fate worse than death." Lumine simply said, closing her eyes as she began to think again.

Sighing heavily, Ayaka also closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Perhaps, in the eyes of a deity such as the Almighty Shogun, the lives of those who inhabit the world are inconsequential. Thunder's roar, lightning's flash, the wind's assault, and the rain descent... All of these things take place with no regard for the feelings of the common people."

Lumine didn't say anything, opting to continue listening to what Ayaka are going to say next.

"But I believe that surely you understand what they must endure." Putting a hand on her chest, Ayaka looked at Lumine, her blue eyes inspected the way the blonde girl opens her eyes and stare back at her. "It seems that perhaps now, you can appreciate my feelings on all of this. In which case... Perhaps you would be willing to consider your stance?"

The room was engulfed in silence as Lumine continue to not say anything for the next several seconds. She silently looked around the room, finding Thoma staring at her with a hand over his mouth and a neutral expression on his face. Besides her, Paimon makes a pleading face as if to silently persuade her into accepting Ayaka's request. And then in front of her, the daughter of the Kamisato clan is patiently waiting for her answer, her expression is calm, but behind those icy blue eyes of her, Lumine could see the well-hidden hope and eagerness Ayaka is trying to hide.

Sighing heavily, Lumine closed her eyes as she finally nods her head, causing Paimon to lets out a small gasp of surprise.

"Alright. I will help you fight the Vision Hunt Decree." Lumine said, using her usual blank voice.

"You will? Really!?" Excitement and happiness seem to overtook Ayaka as she instantly loses her calm demeanor. And Lumine simply nodded her head again as a reply. "Oh, how glad I am to hear it. You have my utmost gratitude for-"

"That doesn't make us friends however."

Lumine's sudden cold and almost heartless words caused Ayaka to abruptly stopped. Her blue eyes widened in shock, Thoma makes a choked sound, and Paimon beside her screamed in shock.

"L-Lumi! What are you saying?! Don't just use some harsh words after accepting her request like that!" The little pixie scolded her, waving her tiny arms around in tantrums.

"Listen to me, Ayaka." Lumine started directly into Ayaka's eyes, her golden eyes are sharp, cold, and dark. Simply staring at it makes Ayaka gulp in nervousness.

"I may have agreed to help you fight the Vision Hunt Decree, but do not be mistaken, I did this not because you told me to, I fight because I completely understand what those people felt, to lose a part of yourself because you have something precious taken away from you by force."

Sighing, Lumine closed her eyes again. "I came all the way here to Inazuma because I have one goal in mind. I seek for an audience with the Electro Archon because she might know the whereabouts of my missing brother." Putting a hand on her chest, Lumine gripped her dress tightly. "We have been separated for so long... And when the time comes where I finally found him... He left me again... Alone, in this cruel and unforgiving world."

Lumine looked back at Ayaka again, and the blue-haired girl jerked a little when they make eye contact again.

"I will abolish the Vision Hunt Decree, for the sake of the people. And you, Ayaka, you are going to keep your promise of setting up a meeting between me and the Raiden Shogun. Do you understand?"

Ayaka jerked a little again, before hurriedly nodding her head. "O-Of course! I-I never planned to take back my promise-"

"Good." Lumine gave her a solemn nod before suddenly turning around. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to clear my head a little." She said, before approaching the exit, making everyone stare at her in shock.

"Wait, Traveler!" Just as Lumine puts her hand on the door, Thoma called her. "S-Since you wanted to clear your head, why don't we go to Komore Teahouse? We can brew you some nice pot of tea, and we can also play a hotpot game if you want to. And all the while, we can further discuss about the Vision Hunt Decree in more detail." Thoma tries to persuade her, but Lumine wasn't interested.

"I'll pass. You can take Paimon with you, she will enjoy the food more than I do." Lumine said while shaking her head, not even bothering to look back.

"But Lumi, where are you going?" Paimon asked in concern.

"Somewhere where I could be alone. Please fill me in once you're done later, okay?" With that said, Lumine exited the estate.

---

Lumine is still unfamiliar with the landscape of Inazuma, as a result, she didn't know where she was heading but she still keep walking, getting herself as far as possible from any settlement where she could be all alone and free to clear her head from all of these trains of thoughts.

Eventually, Lumine found a secluded-looking place near the foothills of the Grand Narukami Shrine. Finding it suitable, she sits down on a rock and sighed, closing her eyes as she began to think.

"What should I do, Aether?" Lumine asked to no one in particular.

"I came all this way just for you, and yet, why did I always got roped into other people's problems?"

The wind around her blows hard, causing tree branches to swayed and rattled, the distant sound of the ocean wave faintly filled her ears as Lumine sat there in silence, before continuing again.

"I always said that finding you is the only reason why I'm still here, why I keep going and never gives up."

Putting a hand on her chest, Lumine could feel the steady beating of her heart.

"I always thought that my only desire is for us to be reunited again, so we can go back home, where home was for us. And yet..."

Glancing up, she looked into the full moon, shining brightly on the night sky, surrounded by countless of glimmering stars.

"My heart... It always desired to help the people in need. To protect the weak, to make sure they're safe, as and solved any problems that troubled their soul. While my own problems are nowhere near solved.

As she kept pondering over this, Lumine remembered her brother's words regarding her heart, long ago before the twins arrived in Tevyat.

"Your heart is far softer than mine. You could pretend that you don't care about everyone and everything we encountered during our travels, but I know you do, and I've always loved that aspect of yours, little sister, how you could hide it and mask your true feelings despite of everything we've been through. I know it's hard to leave something precious behind, but sometimes, you gotta be honest with yourself, Lumine, for your sake, and everyone else around you."

Sighing again, she tightly clenched her fists, determination burning in her eyes as she stand up.

"I'm sorry Aether, but it seems like you're right, I need to stop pretending that I don't care, at least just for now. You said that we've always have enough time, then please wait for me while I abolish this decree from the face of this nation."

Nodding to herself, Lumine prepared to leave but she stayed still when all of a sudden, a rustling sounds filled her ears. Lumine looked to the side and saw a bush is shaking as if there is something moving behind it. She carefully approached the bush before using her hands to swayed some of the leaves aside, revealing an orange fox hiding behind it.

"Oh, what a cute fox." Lumine muttered as she looked into the sacred creature.

On her way to the Kamisato mansion, Lumine had spotted several similar-looking foxes in the distance, but she never cared to get close to them in fear of scaring them, but this fox however seemed friendly enough that it approached Lumine without getting scared.

Lumine gestured the fox to get closer with her fingers, and it did. She reached out to pet the fox, albeit a little hesitating, however, the fox seemed to didn't mind it at all and stayed still as Lumine gently caressed its head, surprising the blonde girl with how relaxed this fox was around humans.

"You hungry? I brought some meat." Lumine materialized some small meat and put it down on the ground as she watched the fox slowly chow down its meal.

Once the fox is done with its meal, Lumine looked back to the sky and noticed the moon's position which indicates that it was starting to get late.

"It's getting late, I better start finding someplace to stay for the night." She muttered softly before standing up and dusting off her dress and preparing to leave again.

But the fox behind her make a noise and ran in front of her, as if blocking her way and begging her to stay.

"Huh? Did you need something again?" Lumine asked the little fox.

As if it understand what she was saying, the fox make a noise again and ran towards a direction until it was a few meters away from her, turning around to face her again and making weird gestures that confused Lumine for a minute.

"You want me to follow you?" The fox didn't reply this time and only continued to run towards that direction with Lumine following behind after she decided to see what the orange furred creature is trying to show her.

If Lumine remembered correctly, the direction they are heading is towards the western beach of Narukami island. She hasn't been there yet so she doesn't know what kind of thing there that this fox is gonna show her, she supposed she could spare some more time since she could always return back to her teapot if she fails to find a suitable place to stay in Inazuma.

After walking through the foothills and the brushes, they finally arrived at the destination when the fox finally stop running, and Lumine saw what's in front of her.

Atop a hill near the beachside, a small desolate shrine stood under a giant otogi tree. There's nothing much of the shrine except for the four fox statues, each sporting a different size, and a lantern beside it.

However, perhaps the shrine itself wasn't the one that the fox wanted to show her. Instead, maybe someone who is inside the shrine is the one it stated her to meet.

Standing in front of the shrine is a woman with short brown hair, she wears one of those shrine maiden uniform Lumine saw in Grand Narukami Shrine, but the most indistinguishable feature that set this woman apart from the other shrine maidens Lumine have met is the Kitsune mask she was wearing to hide her face. The masked shrine maiden was surrounded by five other foxes that she fed with, with the little fox that Lumine had followed soon joining the group as it approached the woman and affectionately rubbing its head on the woman's red skirt.

"Oh? Where have you been?" The masked maiden could be heard asking the little fox that had just returned.

The said fox makes some noises in response, and gestured its head towards Lumine. Following the fox's instruction, the woman looked towards Lumine and the two looked into each other for a minute.

Wave of silences engulfed the area around them as they continued to stare into each other. The shrine maiden seemed to freeze when she first laid her eyes on Lumine, and the blond girl wasn't sure why, is there something in her face maybe?

Cannot bear the awkward silence any longer, Lumine decided to break it. "Umm... Hello? Who are you?" Lumine asked with a bit of hesitation.

"It's... It's you!" The masked shrine maiden suddenly exclaimed, sounding very surprised.

"H-Huh? You... Already know of me?" Lumine is really confused, it sounded like this woman knows her, what is with these shrine maidens? How did they know her?

The masked woman approached Lumine, and the blonde girl gulped as she reached out and placed a hand on the girl's cheek. The woman's hand felt... Cold, for some reason, a complete contrast to the warmth of Lumine's cheek.

"I... I never thought you'd be... But then why? Why didn't you showed up? That day..." The woman is mumbling words that Lumine could not understand.

"Uh... Excuse me, but who are you?" Lumine asked again.

The woman looked at Lumine in the eyes, as if she was surprised by the question, but then, she suddenly nods her head as if she understand.

"Right... You wouldn't recognize me in this form." The masked maiden said before turning around and walk to her previous spot and looked down at the foxes on the ground. "Could you guys give us a moment please?" She asked, and the six foxes surprisingly obey her order and leave the two of them alone.

The act left Lumine shocked, looking at the same maiden in surprise. "Whoa, how did you do that?" Lumine asked in both surprise and amazement.

"Everyone in the Hakushin clan can do that. We were previously nothing but a tiny fox after all." The woman answered, but it still left Lumine clueless about what it meant. "Forgive my rudeness from before, my name is Kazari, and as you can see from my uniform, I'm a shrine maiden."

Lumine nodded at the statement. "I can see that, but what does a shrine maiden do in this place at this kind of hour? I thought they would be in the Grand Narukami Shrine by now?" Lumine questioned, putting her hands on her sides.

"I have my special reasons for not being in the shrine." Kazari answered looking at the fox statues in front of her. "I am here waiting for the arrival of the 'Destined One.'"

"The "Destined One?" Who is that person? And destined for what?" Lumine asked in curiosity, giving a glance towards the fox statues and wondering what makes them so special that the masked maiden always looked at them.

"It was the person chosen by destiny to complete the Sakura Cleansing Ritual at this year, one who will lift the five barriers, purging the evil within them, and cleanse all the filth accumulated at the base of the Sacred Sakura roots." Kazari explained, before turning her head to look at Lumine again. "And as for who is this person, it was none other than you, Dear Lumine."

Something throbbed inside Lumine's head when she heard that last sentence, there are some people she met who called her that, but the way it was spoken, the tone of the voice... Why does it sound so familiar? Who is this woman? How did she know her name? How could she easily trigger her headache?

Lumine clutched her head as the pain slowly fade away, she could hear Kazari said something, but the throb in her head prevented her from hearing much of what she just said.

When the pain is finally gone, Lumine clears her throat. "I'm sorry for that, my head just hurts a little. What were you saying again?"

Kazari looked at her for a good five seconds before shaking her head. "Nothing, it wasn't really important." She sighed before looking back at the statue. "Most importantly, Traveler, could you please channel some energy to this statue, please? I just want to make sure if my predictions were correct."

Lumine was about to question this, but decided against it and complied with her order. Approaching the biggest fox statue, she gently put her palm on it and channel some of her electro energy into it. And suddenly, the statue lit up, surprising Lumine.

"As I thought. Destiny will never be wrong." Something appeared under the statue, and Kazari picked it up and dusted it off with her hand.

"What is that?"

"It's a ward, used for the Sakura Cleansing Ritual. There are a total of five of them, each one is used as the key to lift the barriers." Kazari explained before turning around to look at Lumine. "Traveler, you have shown me that you are indeed the one destined to complete the Sakura Cleansing Ritual this year. Can you lend me your aid in finishing it? If not for me, then for the sake of the people in Inazuma. I promise to give you a reward in return."

Lumine think about it for a minute. Kazari seemed to know a lot about her, despite the fact that the two never met before, or at least that's what Lumine think. She promised a reward in return, maybe she could ask her about how she knows about Lumine, and maybe just maybe, about Aether or the Raiden Shogun.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do." Lumine nodded her head in agreement. "But I don't have much experience on rituals though, so I might need your help in doing this."

"Of course, I was planning to anyway." Kazari nodded back at her.

Afterward, Kazari explained the details about the ritual to Lumine. All that Lumine have to do is to find the remaining four wards located at different locations across the Narukami island, and then use it to lift the five barriers located at different places as well, and purge the evil trapped inside of it, and then lastly, once it was done, Lumine then have to exorcise the accumulated filth at roots of the Sacred Sakura beneath the Yougou mountain.

Since it was already nighttime, Lumine could start tomorrow at whenever time she wanted to.

After bidding Kazari farewell, the blonde Traveler went to Komore Teahouse to pick an already sleeping Paimon up, hearing the details of the discussion between the little pixie and the daughter of the Kamisato clan about their plans to thwart the Vision Hunt Decree from Thoma. Before heading to the city in search for an inn to stay at for the night.

Ever since then, it became a routine for Lumine to work with Ayaka and Thoma to fight against the Vision Hunt Decree during the day. And then helping Kazari complete the ritual during the night.

Lumine never told anyone about Kazari and her involvement in doing the Sakura Cleansing Ritual. With the exception of Paimon who found out about it after tailing her when Lumine sneak out of the inn and into the cave beneath Konda village where she used it as the meeting place with the masked shrine maiden.

Paimon is initially suspicious of the shrine maiden, and even told Lumine to stay away from her and to stop doing the ritual. But over time, as the three continued to work together, the little pixie eventually trusted her.

Six days has passed, Lumine had successfully lifted the five barriers and purged the filth inside them. The only thing they needed to do now is to go beneath mount Yougou and purge the accumulated filth inside the Sacred Sakura roots. But Kazari advised them to do it tomorrow and to take a rest for today to recover their strength for the battle ahead.

When Lumine tried to get some rest during the night, she found herself unable to sleep because of the countless train of thoughts that crossed her mind. Tomorrow is the last day of working with Kazari, meaning that it's also the time when she is finally able to ask the masked woman some questions. She rummaged through her mind, thinking about what questions she should ask. Such as how she knows Lumine, why she talks very casually around her, and why does Lumine always has these strange feelings inside her chest whenever she laid her eyes on her.

Realizing that sleepiness won't come anytime soon, Lumine decided to heads out to clear her head a little. The Grand Narukami Shrine should do nicely. She teleported there, thankfully not giving anyone a heart attack since the shrine is currently almost devoid of people at this time of night. She walked into the shrine and approached the Sacred Sakura, gently caressing the wood with the palm of her hands. She pondered, how could such a beautiful-looking ancient tree could hide such a high concentration amount of filth beneath its roots?

Lumine remembered her first time purging the filth inside the barrier beneath the Konda village, the sensation, the coldness, and that awful stench that reeks poison that rivaled the creatures from the Abyss Order, Lumine could see now why this ritual is so important to Inazuma, because the longer the filth existed, the more damage it caused to the surrounding area and eventually to Inazuma as a whole.

After a quick prayer under the tree, Lumine bid the tree farewell and walked back to the entrance of the shrine. As she stands on the edge of the pathway, Lumine looked down at the purple-colored electro pool at the foot of the mountain. Apparently, this is the entrance of where the condensed filth is located, where the final battle will take place to end the ritual. Lumine couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.

Just when she was about to return back to the inn, Lumine spotted something odd in the distance.

"Is that... Kazari?!" On the top of the other peak of Yougou mountain, a small figure that Lumine recognizes as Kazari can be seen, and it seems like the masked maiden is looking down towards the entrance as well.

Deciding to meet her, Lumine quickly unfolded her wind glider and glided to the peak where the shrine maiden was. Once she arrived there, Kazari was indeed there, looking down towards the electro pool at the mountain foot.

"Hey, Kazari!" Lumine called out the woman who immediately turns around to look at her.

"Lumine? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting for tomorrow?" Kazari asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"I was planning to, but I couldn't sleep. So I came to the shrine to pray under the Sacred Sakura, and then I saw you, what are you doing here?" Lumine asked, looking at the woman in curiosity.

Kazari heavily sighed, there was a hidden emotion emanating from her, but Lumine couldn't decipher what is it.

"I'm just thinking about things, about the upcoming battle between you and the miasma down there. And also about the future of Inazuma after this ritual has been completed." Kazari explained, looking towards the rising moon on the east.

"Are you worried about me?" Lumine asked curiously, and the masked woman surprisingly nodded at her question. "There's nothing to worried about it, okay? I'm pretty strong you know, those filth won't stand a chance against me. I assure you, I will complete the ritual, and then Inazuma won't be in danger for the next several decades at least." Lumine tried to reassure the woman, but Kazari seemed to still worrying about something.

"That's not what I'm worried about you, Lumine." Kazari shook her head before turning to look at the blonde-haired girl. "I was worried about this." Reaching up, she touched Lumine's forehead with her index finger. "I'm worried about your memory."

"Uh... What?"

Kazari sighed again, looking at Lumine directly into her eyes. "I know what you're thinking these past six days Lumine. You're thinking about how I came to know you, is that right?"

Having her inner thoughts discovered, Lumine didn't know what to say, only managed to say a simple "yes" as a reply.

"I know you have plenty of questions to ask me, dear. However, as much as I want to help you, I'm afraid I can't tell you much, especially in your current condition where your memories are broken, and your mind is in shambles." Kazari explained, her last sentence made Lumine perked up in response.

"I kept... Hearing everyone saying that.." Lumine said, clenching both of her fists tightly. "They said that my memories are broken, and that I have forgotten my other light. As far as I know, my brother is the only light I have left, the one and only reason why I traversed this world in order to find him. But to hear that I have another light... One that I have forgotten... I just don't understand, what is the meaning of that?"

Kazari stared at the blonde girl, watching her face twist into one of the mix between anger, sadness, and confusion. She saw this expression on Lumine's face before, and now that she had seen it, she supposed it was okay to let her know.

Sighing, Kazari grabbed Lumine's chin and make the Traveler look at her face. "Let me tell you something Lumine, if this works, you might remember the fragments of memories you've lost."

Kazari reached up, grabbing the Kitsune mask on her face, and then slowly, gently, she pulls it over her face and completely removed it from her head.

Lumine's eyes widened as the true face of Kazari was fully revealed for Lumine to look at. Needless to say, she was completely surprised. Kazari's face is a lot more mature than Lumine expected, as if her face has aged more quickly than her body. And then, behind her mask, Kazari's eyes are golden colored, it wasn't something really unusual, but for some reason, as she stare into those golden eyes of hers, Lumine could feel something has triggered inside her mind, and it makes an uncomfortable feeling that Lumine couldn't describe.

"Who are you?" Lumine asked, her voice is in a low tone, with a well-hidden confusion and surprise behind them.

"The truth is, Lumine. I am a filth created by Kitsune Saiguu's memories." Kazari explained, her voice has changed, it sounded a lot more mature than before.

"Kitsune Saiguu? The high priestess of the Grand Narukami Shrine, and also the sneaky-kitsune that Ioroi was talking about?" Lumine asked, receiving a nod from Kazari.

"Kitsune Saiguu was a fox envoy who lived more than five hundred years ago. She was the high priestess from Narukami island, a descendant of the Hakushin clan, and most importantly, she was a close ally and friend to the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma." Kazari explained, with Lumine nodding as a gesture for her to continue. "She and the Raiden Shogun are a really close friends, they would frequently go to a picnic together, sparring together, and hanging out with their other friends. But..."

"But?"

"But, it all came to an abrupt end when a great disaster befell the land 500 years ago."

"The destruction of Khaenri'ah..." Lumine muttered, causing Kazari to look at her intensely.

"You knew about that tragedy?" She asked, her voice is serious.

Lumine gave her a solemn nod. "I do, but not very much. I remember running away from all the chaos happening in there, my brother is holding my hand and never let go as we ran away. We tried to leave this world behind... But a god suddenly came out, took my brother away, and then everything becomes black." Lumine explained, her voice is stony, almost emotionless.

"I see, so that's what happened. And you didn't remember anything before that..."

"All I could remember is when Aether woke me up from my hibernation, and then... The blood-red sky, the burning buildings in the distance, and the screams of agony and pain from all around me..." Lumine said, grimacing at the memory.

After hearing Lumine's explanation, Kazari heavily sighed, closed her eyes, and shook her head. "In that case, then forgive me, because I cannot help you."

"What?"

"You said you wanted to fix your broken memories, right? Even if I can tell you now, a broken memories could only be restored by no one but yourself, you need to find someone who is capable, more than I do, because I am nothing more but a pile of broken memories being put back together myself."

"Find someone? But who? I barely know anyone in this nation except for Ayaka and her friends." Lumine said, her usual tone is coming back.

"That, you will find soon enough. But for now, I have another thing I have to tell you." Kazari's eyes lose their seriousness and are now looking a bit sad. "I said to you before that I am a filth, created by the darkness of the Cataclysm using Kitsune Saiguu's memories as the template because of how strong it was. And then, as you well known, the purpose of the Sakura Cleansing Ritual is to cleanse all the filth condensed in the Narukami island. And since I myself was a filth..."

Realization struck Lumine and she looked at the woman in surprise. "That can't be... So that means you are..."

"Yes. Once the ritual has been completed, then I too will disappear along with the other filth, all is as it should be." Kazari said, her voice is unchanging.

"Tch..."

"Heh. When I first realized this, I felt really uneasy as well." Kazari smiled despite it was being a bittersweet one. "But I've learned a lot about Inazuma through meeting you, and what I've learned relieves me."

Kazari walks away from Lumine, and into the edge of the peak where she looked down again to the pool below.

"Ioroi survived and wasn't depressed at all despite of being sealed in stone, and he doesn't seem to hold a grudge against the Kitsune Saiguu as well. The bloodline of Konda and Saimon in Konda village still runs true to this day, even if it's not as well as it once was. All of these... I'm glad to see that it came to you, even though such twists and turns."

Putting a hand on her chest, Kazari smiled again, a genuine one this time.

"I wonder if this is how I feel, or if this is how the Kitsune Saiguu feels." Kazari turned around to look at Lumine again who wear a sad-looking expression. "Either way, perhaps my biggest relief, comes from the fact that I was able to meet you, Lumine. Maybe if you can find and meet her, she would be more than happy than I am."

"Do you really have to go?" Lumine asked again.

"My duty is to protect Narukami island, cleanse the miasma, and finish the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual, Lumine, I have to do this."

When Lumine is still looking sad, with her head looking down, Kazari sighed as she reached up to pat the blonde girl's head, a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"I'll tell you some other more tomorrow night, okay? For now, please, get some rest." Kazari's mature voice sounded gentle, reassuring, like that of a friend who comfort her in times of need.

Lumine only nodded in response. The two bid farewell to each other before Lumine returned back to the inn to catch some sleep.

Morning comes, Lumine wakes up and goes to meet Ayaka like usual, asking for tasks that need to be done before heading out to complete them. As she continues running errands around Inazuma while trying to not looking suspicious at all, day eventually turns into night, and as promised, Lumine and Paimon arrived at the meeting spot on mount Yougou where Kazari is waiting for them.

After preparing herself for this during the day, Lumine is now ready to face the miasma. And with the spell Kazari is casting, she drains the electro pool below, and opens up the entrance to the giant cave underneath the Grand Narukami Shrine, where a sinister purple aura and the stench of corruption oozes out that makes Lumine want to curl her nose in disgust.

Kazari proceeds to explain what she needed to do down there in order to purge the miasma, which mostly involves the same technique she used while purging the evils from the five barriers before.

Before she get down there, Kazari grabbed Lumine's shoulder, and the blonde girl could feel the woman is smiling behind her mask.

"I believe in your strength, Lumine. But still, be careful, and... Good luck." Kazari said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Lumine simply nodded. Looking down towards the gaping hole below, she took a deep breath before jumping from the peak of the mountain and dived straight through the hole and engaging the tumor miasma in battle.

---

The sky was purple that night, thunders could be heard roaring in the distance. The air of Inazuma suddenly become not as fresh as usual, a strange smell filled the air, and the people of Inazuma who are still awake could see the strange purple mists that comes out from mount Yougou.

Many people were confused by the strange occurrence, and some of them even think that a great natural disaster is going to happen.

But for a Youkai, such as the sly and perceptive Kitsune Yae Miko, however, she could feel everything. From the small shaking of the earth below, to the feeling of how the miasma slowly faded away as seconds went by.

"Lady Yae, is that..."

"Mhmm, it seems like someone is performing the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual, without my approval, again." The pink-haired woman said before taking another bite of the fried tofu she just ordered.

"But why does she did it in the middle of the night? And without even asking her for help." The shrine maiden wondered as she stared into the distance where the ritual is currently being performed.

"Oh? It seems like you know who did it this time?" The Kitsune glanced towards her shrine maiden, her eyes are sharp and calculative. "May I ask who it was?"

"It was that girl, Lady Yae, the blonde-haired Traveler in a white dress."

"Ooh, in that case, then I shouldn't have worried too much about it then." The woman said before resting her arms on the counter, taking another bite of the fried tofu.

"Are you sure we're going to leave her alone?"

"Oh, there's nothing to worried about, Hotomi, that girl is far more than capable of handling such trivial matters." Yae said while waving her hand in reassurance, with Hotomi having no other choice but to trust her charge.

Meanwhile, standing on the balcony of the Tenshukaku, a woman with braided purple hair is watching the same view as the two below. The Raiden Shogun of Inazuma clenched her fists when she sensed the miasma filling the air of her nation, but she didn't bother to take any action since she's aware that this is temporarily, and the bad stench of the condensed filth will soon be exterminated once the ritual is over.

There is only one thought that crossed the Electro Archon, however.

"Who is the one performing the ritual this time? Is it the same person who did it before?"

---

The battle is finally over.

The miasma is gone, and the accumulated filth had faded, but is not completely gone yet. There is still one thing left to do, and Lumine knows where this is going. Kazari appeared behind them like she usually does, congratulating her for beating the miasma, and technically completing the Sakura Cleansing Ritual, even though it's still not finished yet.

Just as she promised during their six days doing the ritual, Kazari finally explains herself to Paimon. How she was a condensed filth that inherited Kitsune Saiguu's memories, to carry out her duty as the one who performed the Cleansing Ritual once every several decades.

During their conversation, Lumine just stands on the sidelines and listens to the two talking. She's still sad about the aspect of Kazari going to disappear, the only person who knew about the answer she seek, but refused to tell her due to her personal reasons.

Kazari then finally revealed to the little pixie about the final step of the ritual, which is to finally destroy every filth in the land of Inazuma including herself. Just like Lumine last night, Paimon is also shocked after hearing the revelation, muttering in disbelief that the masked maiden has to go in order to save the nation she was born into from the darkness of this world.

But Kazari herself did not mind about the price she has to pay to get it done. Expressing her relief that the people that Kitsune Saiguu cared for and saved during the Cataclysm is safe and sound, even if it's not as well as it was before, it still makes her happy, and can finally rest in peace.

Kazari turned to look at Lumine, and gave her a smile behind her mask. "Lumine, it has been a pleasure and an honor to meet and travel with you again. It was all because of you that I was able to come here and carry out my final duties." Lumine gives her a nod as a reply.

"Are you really leaving?" Paimon asked, her voice is full of sadness.

"Yes. Thank you for everything too, Paimon." Kazari replied with a solemn nod. "Please forgive me for overstepping... Lumine, Paimon, please hear what I have to say."

"I'm listening." Lumine said while Paimon nodded.

"'Do not be blinded. Do not waver. Keep walking the path that you believe in.' These were the Kitsune Saiguu's last words before her final parting." Kazari said with the mature voice that she used last night. "I'm not qualified to claim the Hakushin Bloodline for my own. But I believe that if Kitsune Saiguu were alive, she would give you her blessing, Lumine. I hope that her words will be able to ward off at least some of the lies and evil that you shall face in the future."

"Thank you, Kazari, you really are too kind." Lumine nodded, putting a hand on her chest.

"You are welcome." The masked maiden said a chuckle, one that eerily sounds familiar in Lumine's ear for some reason.

"In exchange... Please indulge me one final time." Lumine and Paimon nodded as Kazari took a breath. "The Kitsune Saiguu always favored the beauty of short chants. Although I inherited her memories and the 1,111 chants she knew, I lack the grace she possessed with them. But this moment reminds me of one such chant... 'When shall we meet again after this parting? For life is like the morning dew.'"

"Farewell, Kazari, Saiguu, whichever you are, I'll make sure to always remember you. After all, only memories are truly eternal, and the person you miss will be lucky enough to become a part of your memories forever." Lumine said with a bittersweet smile, not even knowing what she just said, and only realized it when Kazari gasped in surprise.

"You... You actually remember that..." Kazari sounded shocked with Lumine's words.

"What... What is that? Those words just suddenly appeared in my mind, and I don't know why." Lumine muttered, rubbing her head.

"That was a sign, dear Lumine. It seems like there is a chance to fix your broken memories after all." Kazari nods her head, sounding happy for Lumine.

"Really?" Lumine asked with a hopeful tone.

"Uhh... What's exactly are you guys talking about here?" Paimon is confused, scratching her head.

"Yes. All you need to do now is to find her, just like I told you yesterday." Kazari looked down at her hand and finds it starting to become transparent. "It seems like I'm running out of time."

"Oh no." Paimon whimpered with a sad expression.

"Find your other light Lumine, only then, you will finally learn the truth about yourself." Sighing Kazari chuckled as a certain memories that belonged to Kitsune Saiguu crossed her mind. "Our time together may be short, but I enjoyed every second of it. And please, Lumine, save her, save her from herself. Goodbye."

With that said, Kazari turned around and goes to the center of the cave where the moonlight poured down from the hole in the ceiling.

"All branches and roots, end this evil! And I declare it purified hereby!"

And with those final spells, it was all over. The filth slowly dissipates into nothing around the area, and also from all over Inazuma. Lumine could no longer feel the coldness around her, or the stenches of corruption again, the air around her has returned back to normal, just as it always been.

And then, amidst the serenity they felt. The masked shrine maiden known as Kazari silently stood there as her body started to get covered by purple light particles. The two travelers watched as the woman's body starts to disintegrate, starting from her lower body.

When she was halfway through disappearing, the embodiment of Saiguu's memories used it's last remaining strength to look at the blonde-haired Traveler known as Lumine, one of her best friends during the Kitsune's past-life, and pushed the fox mask upwards, just enough to show the star-born maiden her last genuine smile of happiness, before her whole being finally disappears into the light, leaving nothing but a fox mask behind, falling gently into a now grassy ground of that cave.

After that's done, the blonde-haired Traveler and her little pixie approached the spot where their friend just disappeared. Lumine crouched down and picked up the mask, dusting it off before closely inspecting it.

"Ohh... Paimon thinks she's gonna cry! Why does it have to be like this?" Paimon whimpered, bawling her eyes out as tears continuously flowed out of her eye sockets.

"She's simply doing what she was created for, Paimon." Lumine said in a blank tone, she's still sad for losing a friend, but on the other hand, she's glad that Kazari can rest in peace now that she no longer have regrets. "It was her destiny." She said while gently caressing the mask with her fingers.

"If even someone like Kazari is unable to avoid her destiny. Then what chances do you have for trying to change the destiny of this world, Aether?

Silently, the blonde girl thinks about the words that her brother said during their reunion. Vowing herself to find her other light that both the brother inside her mind and her late friend Kazari are mentioning. Wondering just who is the one that they are talking about.

---

By the time Lumine arrived, the ceremony had already started.

From behind the crowds of people that had gathered around to watch the Ceremony, Lumine saw the sight of her friend, Thoma. The blonde-haired man is on his knees as his hands are tied behind his back, and two guards are aiming their spears into his neck just in case he resisted.

But that's not all.

Standing atop the higher wooden board, is a woman with long braided purple hair in a custom-designed purple kimono that seems to suit her on the battlefield. The woman is standing in front of the Omnipresent God Statue, looking up into the grace of its structure.

Even without asking or listening to what the crowd is murmuring about, Lumine instantly able to make out that that woman is the Electro Archon of Inazuma. She could tell by simply feeling the aura that the woman is emanating, which is almost similar to those that Zhongli and Venti possess, with the only differences being the respective elements that each Archon represent.

However, the longer Lumine stared at that woman, the more the blonde girl realized something.

The flow of the aura of divinity that the Raiden Shogun possessed is a tad bit different than what Zhongli and Venti shared in common. Unlike Vision bearers, an Archon's elemental aura oozes out from their entire body, this is unlike Vision wielders whose aura only come out of their vision but not from their bodies since normal humans did not possess any kinds of special powers and must rely on their Visions for strength to fight against the odds.

From observing Venti and Zhongli, Lumine concluded that the elemental aura they possess came from their entire being, as if they themselves are a walking Visions with humanoid bodies and mannerisms.

But this Electro Archon, however, the aura that comes out of her does not work the same way as her fellow Archons did, rather, it works like those of the Vision wielders. It doesn't emanate from all over her body, but instead, it came out of a certain spot in her chest area.

Lumine tried to look at her appearance more carefully, but she couldn't find any Vision attached to her clothes, or worn around her neck like a necklace. Does she hide it between her boobs perhaps? The idea of it makes Lumine grimace in discomfort, shaking her head to shake off the idea and instead focusing on what's about to happen now.

The Raiden Shogun of Inazuma finally turns around to look down towards Thoma, or more specifically, the Pyro Vision attached to his hips.

Confiscating his Vision will mark the capture of a total of one hundred Vision during this past year after the decree was announced. That is why this ceremony is being held to begin with, to celebrate the achievement of the milestone.

Thoma has been talking about this during his time working together with Lumine, without even being aware that it was actually going to be about him losing Vision to the Almighty Shogun. Lumine herself doesn't pay any attention to it since her only focus is to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree and not some seemingly trivial ceremony. But now that she's witnessing it herself, Lumine realized how wrong she was.

After spending the previous week with Kazari, Lumine's relationship with the Kamisato clan has been improved. She finally accepted Ayaka's friend request, she accompanied her walking around the city, and even enjoyed a festival together with her. As for Thoma, she had accompanied him numerous times wandering around Inazuma and helping people in need. As the well-known fixer, it was Thoma's job to help any people in need that he came across to, almost similar to how Lumine did commissions from various people, that's why the two are relatively close by now.

The thought of Thoma losing his Vision left a bitter taste in her mouth. Thoma is her friend now, and there is no way in hell she would allow him to suffer the same fate as those people who had lost their Visions.

The Raiden Shogun reached out her hand towards Thoma, and the Pyro Vision on his hips came lunging forward towards the Goddess' opened palms.

Now's her chance!

Using both Anemo and Electro power, Lumine increases her speed, and with help of the gust of winds she created, Lumine throws herself high into the air and towards the wooden board where both Thoma and the Shogun is currently on.

Before the Vision could reach the Shogun's hand, Lumine managed to catch it first, landing gracefully onto the wooden board and placed the Vision closely into her chest as she came face to face with the Electro Archon who made a surprised and shocked face upon landing her eyes on the blonde girl below her.

There's a sound of footsteps and a yell. Materializing her sword, Lumine turns around and struck the two guards that charge at her, not too fatal enough to kill them, but enough to knock them out.

Without wasting any more time, Lumine quickly rushes towards Thoma, reattaching his Vision back to his hips, and was about to cut the rope that bound his hands if it wasn't for the sudden electro energy that struck her hands and makes her yelp in pain.

Lumine turns around to face the one who did the attack, and she saw the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma slowly descend to the lower wooden boards by stepping down some magically made hardened air.

"Capable of using elemental energy without a Vision... You are an exception, it appears. Exceptions. The enemy of eternity." The Shogun's voice sounded cold, blank, emotionless, Lumine could say lifeless even, as if the goddess in front of her are not a living being at all.

Numerous thunders struck around the area, alerting the people who feared the Shogun's wrath, and most of them already left the place in fear for their lives.

Spreading her arms, a purple glows appeared from the Shogun's chest, and Lumine watched as a long object that resembles a sword slowly came out from the middle of her chest. So that's the Musou no Hitotachi, the legendary sword wielded by the Electro Archon to cut through the various enemies she have during her thousands of years of living, the sword that's capable of cutting through everything, even the space and time itself. The sword is also the source of Shogun's aura, but why? Lumine cannot come up with a logical explanation. Doing nothing but to stand there with her sword ready, and her body hiding Thoma behind her from the goddess of lightning.

Once the whole sword finally came out, the Archon grabs her blade and points it towards the sky as she declares. "You will be inlaid upon this statue."

Suddenly, the reality around her cracked, and Lumine was too shocked to react quick enough to see behind her as the cracks on reality surrounded her, and then within seconds, everything went black, with Paimon or Thoma is nowhere to be seen.

Lumine wondered where she was when suddenly she felt a small earthquake happen. The pitch-black area began to light up as things started to magically materialize. A sandy ground suddenly appeared beneath Lumine's feet, the sky turned into crimson red with an ominous black streak. Numerous Torii Gate rises above the ground as the earthquake continues, once it's stopped. Lumine looked in front of her to see the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma is in the middle of this strange realm, she was in a meditating pose, but the shocked face with widened eyes that the Purple-haired woman gave Lumine seemed really out of place for her.

That's also when Lumine realized that the aura of the Shogun has changed completely, into one that was the same as Venti and Zhongli and not like the one before.

What is going on here?

---

Short blonde hair, white dress that looks like it was made from heaven itself, and a used to be gold orbs that shone in the darkness for eyes, but now it had lost its color and was duller in comparison to what it used to be all those years ago.

The Raiden Shogun... No. Ei, stared at the person who just entered her plane of Euthymia.

It doesn't even take three seconds for her eyes to instantly recognize the appearance of the blonde-haired girl in a familiar white dress. And it doesn't take another one second for her brain to process the information.

"Lumine..." Ei whispered, she was so surprised as she was confused.

This girl is Lumine, the star-born Traveler that fell from the sky into Tevyat. She was a visitor of Inazuma 500 years ago, not long before the day of disaster. A maiden, carrying the scent of the stars, and the grace of the heavens, and an unspeakable aura of divinity that she always carries around whenever she goes.

But most of all...

She was once a close ally and friend to the twins Electro Archon of Inazuma.

Due to being in the personal realm of the Elecro Archon, even the littlest of all whispers could be heard loud and clear. The blonde-haired girl widened her eyes in surprise upon hearing her name being said by yet again another person she doesn't know at all. Just what is wrong with these people and their knowledge of Lumine's name and identity? Are they capable of doing astrology like Mona or something?

"How did you know my name?" Nevertheless, Lumine is still curious so she asked the purple-haired woman.

Ei didn't answer the question, opting to continue staring at her (former?) friend instead.

"How did she get here? Why did she return to Inazuma?"

Ei mentally asked herself. The last time the woman saw the smaller girl was five hundred years ago, just a few hours before the Cataclysm happened. She was on a picnic with her and Ei's other two friends, Chiyo and Saiguu. Telling interesting stories to one another, bathing in the morning sun, while enjoying themselves with some homemade desserts that Chiyo brought for them.

In her thousands of years of living, Ei has made several friends she cared about, and the memories she spent with them will always be treasured dearly inside her heart, for memories are the one and truly eternal factors that connects between two friends that transcended beyond lifetimes. That's what Saiguu taught her.

But of all the friends she made, perhaps Lumine is the one that leave the most influence in Ei more than anyone else.

Ei herself cannot explain it. She supposed it's just how Lumine is as an individual. A girl born from the stars, someone who pulls people around her, breaking away any barriers that separate one another, including Ei herself.

There is always this funny feeling of pleasantness in her head, and an unexplainable blooming sensation in her heart whenever she interacts and spends her time with the blonde girl. There was also her inability to deny all the teasing that Saiguu gives her for their apparent closeness despite of having only known each other for a few days, and yet they already did several intimate things like hugging and sleeping together.

Lumine has her own special place in Ei's heart, that's what the Raiden Shogun realized after thinking about it for so long. This was evidenced during the day when Lumine left Inazuma with her big brother, it happened just several hours before the Cataclysm began, and the pain in Ei's heart of having to watch her newly found friend leaving so suddenly will only get multiplied once the great disaster struck. Not only had she lost her two close friends, Saiguu and Chiyo to the otherworldly darkness, but she also had to witness the death of her older twin, Makoto, her own flesh and blood, the other half of her soul.

And then, added to her already big pile of pain, is how she's unable to find Lumine or her brother amidst the chaos rampaging in Khaenri'ah that day.

Ei always wondered, what happened to the pair of siblings that day? Are they hiding from all the chaos? Or in a worst-case scenario, did they got killed by the gods that assaulted Khaenri'ah that day?

But from the sparring they did together, Ei has seen firsthand how powerful the twins are, so the most logical explanation available is that Lumine had left Tevyat behind, leaving Ei behind, in this cruel and unforgiving world where everything is forced to bend to the heavenly principles of the throne of the gods in Celestia.

The thought of Lumine leaving Tevyat had left Ei extremely heartbroken. Aside from the fact that she lost yet another friend, it also meant that the blonde-haired Traveler had broken their promise of meeting with each other again after the day disaster has been resolved.

After she secluded herself inside the Plane of Euthymia to began her eternal mediation, Ei always tried to justify Lumine's reason for leaving Tevyat. The blonde girl said that the purpose for the twins to travel from world to world is to find a suitable home for them to live in. Once they found a world is not suitable for any of them, then they would leave it behind to search for another one. What happened 500 years ago must've made the twins deemed Tevyat unsuitable, and thus prompting them to leave it.

But no matter how many times Ei thinks about this, she couldn't shake off the pang inside her heart.

And now, as the goddess continues to inspect the person in front of her, conflicting emotions start to overwhelm Ei's mind.

If this is Lumine... Does that mean she never leaves Tevyat? She never broke our promise?

It sounds too good to be true, but with the evidence is standing right before her own eyes, there's no denying it.

"..."

No.

Ei cannot let her guard down. Not again. Not after what happened to Makoto back then.

Ei's purple eyes glowed brightly as she inspects Lumine again, this time beyond her appearance only. And that's when the goddess of thunder realized something:

The aura of divinity that the blonde girl used to carry around whenever she goes, one that Ei would always remember after their days of spending time together. It's all gone, with what remaining is only a small particle of it which explains the familiar presence Ei felt outside of the Plane of Euthymia, which is really faint and almost unnoticeable if it wasn't for her act of catching the vision that the Raiden Shogun is about to catch.

And then, replacing that aura of divinity that Lumine possessed, is the stench of this world's divinity, one that reeks a familiar aroma that Ei knows so well, it belongs to the one responsible for all the misery Ei went through.

Celestia.

"What treachery is this? Another trick from the gods?" Ei squints her eyes towards Lumine. Appearance can be deceiving, but in the eyes of a divine being like her, it was all nothing.

Ei gets down from her meditation stance, and summons her naginata, spinning it around before swinging it to the side. This act caused the other girl to get visibly tensed up as she take a defensive pose with her sword.

"What are you?" Ei asked, but the tone of her voice sounded like more like she's demanding to know rather than asking.

Lumine didn't answer the question since she herself is as confused as Ei was. Instead, she choose to keep her defense as she slowly backed away.

"Don't want to answer me? Fine." Ei suddenly disappeared in a flash of light, and when Lumine gets surprised and start looking around for her enemy, she felt a presence appeared directly behind her. "Then I'll just have to make you tell me."

Lumine quickly swings her sword behind her, clashing the sword with the goddess' spear with a loud clang. And with that, the battle between the two began.

With her sharp and keen eyes, Ei observed the way Lumine battled her. Her every movement, from the way she runs, jump, and dodge Ei's attacks, to the way she swings her sword around, trying to land a hit on Ei to no avail, or to block Ei's attack, and also the way she uses elemental powers which varies between Anemo, Geo, and Electro.

The last part causes an increase in Ei's suspicion of the girl.

Ei is still able to remember Lumine's fighting style from their daily spar in the past. The blonde girl still has those graceful but precise battle movements that Ei freshly remembered like the back of her hand. But Ei is also aware that being an outlander that does not bound to this world's rule, Lumine possesses powers that differ from elemental powers. But this... thing, however, uses elemental powers to battle Ei. And there are no other sources of Elemental powers in this world other than from Celestia.

However, regardless of what Ei is trying to convince herself, the longer the battle went, the more she began to doubt her own mind.

She tries to tell herself that the girl she's fighting is not her friend from all of those years ago. The fact that she doesn't recognize Ei, uses elemental powers instead of the unrecognizable power she demonstrated in the past, and finally, the lack of the aura of divinity that Ei remembered and was instead carrying around the stench of Celestia has proved that.

And yet, with every hit Ei landed on her, every cut and bruises she inflicted upon the blonde girl's skin, and every hiss of pain her opponent letting out, an uncomfortable feeling of a mix of pain and regret from causing the person who looked exactly just like her friend start to settle in her stomach.

Eventually, Ei couldn't hold back the feeling anymore.

She has to end this now.

Lumine was on her knees, panting heavily from exhaustion and from the pain of the cuts and bruises across her exposed skin that's started bleeding. Looking up, she saw Ei twirl her naginata before aiming it to the side, a gesture for her enemy to come closer.

And Lumine obliged.

Putting as much energy as she could on her legs to gather speed, like a flash of lightning ready to strike the Archon down, Lumine charges towards Ei, with her sword coated with Electro energy.

The God prepared her blade with a spin, advancing on her own to meet the girl halfway. A step to the side, one swing to the girl's chest as she passed by.

She did not need to turn around to hear her screaming in pain, and her body falling to the ground. Ei's attack is not fatal enough to kill Lumine, but strong enough to knock her unconscious.

---

Back in the real world. Due to the difference of the flow of time between the personal realm of the Raiden Shogun and Tevyat, only a few seconds had passed.

Just in a few seconds after the Electro Archon summoned the Musou no Hitotachi, a strange black smoke appears and engulfed the Traveler, causing her two friends to panic when she suddenly disappeared.

A few seconds had passed since then, and the black smoke re-emerges, and from it, Lumine fell into the wooden board, her eyes are closed and her body was limp.

Thoma and Paimon gasped when they see the unconscious form of their friend. Paimon began to panic and approach her fallen fallen companion and frantically tried to wake her up. Meanwhile, Thoma is struggling to get himself free from the restraint in his hand.

Things got worse when the Almighty Shogun also comes out of the black smoke. Her face is still in her usual emotionless and cold expression, as if she doesn't even care that she just strike down a girl unconscious.

The Elecro Archon looked down towards the unconscious blonde girl, she dematerialize her Mosou no Hitotachi, and menacingly approached her fallen enemy.

Paimon looked up towards the approaching god, and becomes even more panicked and shaking Lumine even harder, screaming on her ears to wake up, not even noticed when the Shogun is now standing directly in front of her, realizing only a little too late when the purple-haired woman looked down at Lumine's face as her hand reached down towards Lumine's chest.

Suddenly, there was a sound of Thoma shouting, and the Shogun looked up to see the blonde man in red throws one of the fallen guard's spears directly into her face.

But it was nothing in the eyes of the god, however. She summoned her naginata and blocked the attack, creating a powerful gust of wind that pushed both the traveler and Paimon back. And he rushed forward, managing to catch her body before it fell off the edge of the wooden board.

The wind seemingly woke Lumine up, and Thoma didn't waste the time to allow the Shogun to strike twice. He helped her stand, place a hand above her waist, as he helped her run away. Jumping off the wooden board and landed on the other end of the big gap on the ground before continue running.

The Raiden Shogun watched as they ran away, with her eyes glued to the blonde-haired Traveler only.

That girl... Just who is she?

"Sh-Shogun... Who... was that?" One of the guards who just woke up from the Traveler's earlier attacks asked, staring down towards the running prisoners.

"Seize her under the decree." The Archon commanded, closing her eyes as she turn around and walks away. "I want that girl to be brought to the Tenshukaku."

The two guards looked at each other for a moment, before bowing their heads towards their goddess.

---

They managed to run far away, somehow without a witness. Taking the back route where there are no people around the area, the three arrived at the Komore Teahouse.

Once they stopped running to catch their breaths. Thoma lets go of his hold on Lumine's waist and slowly puts her down on the ground, resting her back against the wall. The near-death experience caused both of them to rapidly breathing, and their bodies couldn't stop trembling.

"Wh-why have we stopped here?" Paimon asked, looking around in panic in case of any shogunate army saw them. "W-We need to keep moving! We cannot stay here for long." Paimon said, stomping her tiny feet on the air.

"In case you've forgotten, the Komore Teahouse is the safest place for me to hide in this area." Thoma said before sighing heavily, looking down at Lumine who was panting heavily. "But the only problem is, I probably won't be able to leave again for some time. And I'll have to leave the next steps to you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Paimon asked, tilting her head to the side.

"You have to Go to Tatarasuna and find the resistance." Thoma answered, crouching down, he put a hand on Lumine's forehead to find her temperature burning. "The Shogun's Army is almost certainly about to issue a warrant for our arrest. There are very few parties that will be willing to shelter us... But the resistance is an exception."

"The resistance? Paimon's pretty sure Ayaka mentioned them before..." The little pixie said, rubbing her chin with her palm. "Oh yeah! Sangonomiya's group! The ones who came together to fight the Vision Hunt Decree!"

"That's right. The resistance was founded by Sangonomiya Kokomi, the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island." Thoma nodded, still checking Lumine's condition, his face is filled with concern.

"Currently, it's her subordinate, Gorou, who leads them in their war against the Shogun's Army. However, the Yashiro Commission is not on especially good terms with the resistance. So your dealings with us would be frowned upon." Sighing, he turned his head to look at Paimon. "But you're different, so that shouldn't work against you... As far as I can see, the resistance shouldn't have any reason to turn you away."

Lumine suddenly starts coughing violently, and hissing in pain because of her wounds. Thoma gently hold her hand and instruct Paimon to get some water from inside the Teahouse.

"Hey, easy there." Thoma whispered gently, Paimon came with a glass of water shortly after, and the man helps Lumine drink it.

Once her breathing started to get steady, and she has enough strength to open her eyes, Paimon quickly approached her and tightly hugged her friend.

"Lumi, are you okay? Paimon was so worried about you! That woman didn't do much, didn't she? You don't have any broken bones, are you?" Paimon began to ask several questions in worry.

"I'm fine, Paimon." Lumine simply said, her voice is hoarse, pained, as if to hold back the pain.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good to Paimon."

"It's fine. She didn't land a fatal blow on me. My wounds should be healed in a few days." Lumine replied, when she saw the looks of concern her friends give her, she sighed, deciding to change the subject. "So anyway, where can I find this resistance?"

"That's actually the issue we have right now." Thoma shook his head. "We can't be sure of the resistance forces' current location. You'll have to ask around along the way. You'll likely pass through territory occupied by the Shogun's Army at some point. So, be sure to stay on your guard at all times." Lending his hand, Thoma helped Lumine stand up.

"I understand." She said with a simple nod. "Be sure you do the same."

"Don't worry about me, I can remain hidden when I want to. I won't make it easy for them." With a smile, Thoma crossed his arms as he reassured her.

"We gotta hurry up, the Tenryou Commission could be right around the corner! Let's get out of here."

Nodding, Lumine bid her final farewell to Thoma before together with Paimon, escape Inazuma city and goes to a nearby shore where she gets a boat that she used to travel to Kannazuka Island.

While on her way to the neighboring island. A single thought crossed Lumine's mind as she recounts her battle with the Electro Archon.

"What is wrong with her? She could do much more than that to finished me off. I know she was way stronger than that, and yet, why did she knocked me out instead of killing me?"

---

The place was gloomy, dark, and in shambles. An eerie purple mist filled the entire factory, adding even more feelings of uneasiness to whoever dared to enter the facility. The entire place reeks with corruption and other kinds of malicious energy, and the smells of iron linger along with it.

With the last part are actually the doings of the blonde-haired Traveler, Lumine.

Lumine slowly walks down the hallway of the Delusion factory. Her golden eyes have gone fully dark as it focuses onwards, not batting an eye to any other things around her, if one spends enough time to look property into her eyes, then they would instantly able to make out the burning hatred inside them.

The tip of her blood-stained sword is dragged across the wooden floor, making scratching sounds as she continued walking. Her white dress has been stained by red as well, people may think it was hers, but in truth, it was all the blood of the enemies she just massacred when she arrived here.

It has been four months ever since Lumine had joined the resistance army. After helping them during a fierce battle against the shogunate in the borders between Kannazuka and Yashiori Island, the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island, Sangonomiya Kokomi, had come to recruit her herself. And would later on appointed her as the captain of Swordfish II, one of the many special divisions within the army.

As the appointed captain, Lumine had to make sure to live up to their expectations.

Thanks to her strength and intelligence, Lumine not only had won many battles against the Shogun's Army in the front line, pushing them back all the way to the Kujou encampment, but she had also made herself some reputation in Watatsumi Island by getting along with many people and helped them with their problems.

Most noticeably, Lumine had lent her hand in Watatsumi's food crisis, due to the soil problems that caused crops growth quality to decrease greatly, the people of Watatsumi had suffered greatly because of the lack of food.

As a member of the resistance army, Lumine felt it was also her duty to help the people. And so, by using her magical abilities, Lumine teleported herself between Watatsumi and Liyue Harbour to buy food supplies and give them for free to Kokomi, which she later distribute to the people.

Other incredible feats she demonstrates includes training the inexperienced resistance member on how to do better in wielding their weapons and also to read the situation on the battlefield and what actions they must take if a certain income would happen.

It was due to these actions that Lumine's reputation gets skyrocketed in less than a month after she joined. The people of Watatsumi regarded her as their savior, one who defended the island, protect its inhabitants, and helped them in times of crisis.

While all of this is happening, Lumine had bonded with a few people she encountered in her times as the captain of Swordfish II. One of them is the resistance army fighter, Teppei.

Teppei is the first resistance member that Lumine encountered. She first met him when he was surrounded by the Shogunate Samurais on the border between Kannazuka and Yashiori Island. After saving him, he leads her to the resistance's camp in Yashiori, where he introduced her to the resistance army's General, Gorou.

After Kokomi appointed Lumine to be the captain of Swordfish II, the divine Priestess had also appointed Teppei to become the leader of his own special unit, Herring I. Together, the two of them continue their fight against the shogunate separately, achieving their own various victories.

Lumine is not the type of person who doubts someone's strength, appearance can be deceiving after all. That's why, whenever she hangs out with him, Lumine always believed the stories of Teppei's success on the battlefield thanks to his great strength and unrivaled intelligence.

That's why, when the bad news about some of the resistance members had received several Delusions from the mysterious third party that was revealed to be none other than the Fatui, Teppei is the first person that entered her mind.

After rushing to Bourou village, the place where they always met to hang out, she finds him sitting behind a house, with his condition being worse than ever. The Delusion had shortened Teppei's lifespan, resulting in a symptoms of accelerated aging. To makes matter worse, Teppei had received the Delusion ever since the day he became the leader of his own special unit, meaning that he had relied on the power of the Delusion for a total of three and a half month. And all of those stories about his victories are all thanks to this Delusion.

Lumine cannot bring herself to get disappointed by the revelation, her concern about Teppei's health is far more important.

But it was all too late now.

With his last breath, Teppei gave her his final smile, telling her to make a promise that once their matching uniforms are ready, he wants her to grab the one made for him, and bring it back to Teppei, so they can wear it together, just like what's friends do within the resistance army.

Even when his heart stopped beating, Teppei's smile never fell. His tragic death had caused something to snap inside Lumine, anger and hatred boiled intensely inside her heart. Lumine had witnessed many deaths across her journey in various worlds with Aether, some of them are people that she befriends with, and some of them are even the member of her own family. But never before did she gets angered by the death of someone. Perhaps, it's due to their nature as travelers, Lumine and Aether never fully let themselves bond with the people they met in their journeys, knowing that they would eventually leave the world behind to continue their journey to find the ideal place to call home.

But now that the twins are stuck in Tevyat, one due to having her powers sealed, and one because he simply refused to do so, for the first time Lumine lets herself fully bonded with anyone in this world, with Paimon being the first one she did with, and Teppei is not an exception.

That's why his death is what leads her to become what she was right now. A cold-blooded killer who slaughters every Fatui she sees inside the Delusion factory, not even a single person are left alive in her rampage, Lumine had to make sure to slit their throats just to make sure they're dead.

She finally arrived in the final room, there, she meets him, the mysterious Harbinger she met in the past, back when she helped Mona and Fischl solve the Leonard's dream incident. Scaramouche was his name, the sixth of the Fatu Harbinger, commonly known as the Balladeer.

"You actually managed to find this place. Congratulations." The condescending tone behind those words was not something the Lumine would ever forget, "Barely two words in and you already look like you want me dead." The man said as he crossed his arms.

"You! You're the one manufacturing the Delusions and giving them to the Resistance." Lumine hissed, the grip on her sword tightened, her legs are itching for her to lunge forward and strike him, but she hold it back for now

"Oh, so that's what this is all about? Seems like a silly reason to slaughter dozens of our agents over. Agents who were just following orders." He shook his head in what Lumine interpreted as amusement.

"'Just following orders' is not an excuse when someone is perfectly aware that what they're doing is horribly wrong." Lumine retorted, the bubbling hatred inside her getting even worse with every second that went by.

"It's not like we are forcing the Resistance to use our Delusions. They made that decision for themselves, you're getting worked up over nothing."

Lumine resisted the urge to attack the man again as the Balladeer turns his back on her.

"This is simply the way of the world. Human life is worthless." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. "They were always going to die, so why not give them a small taste of power they never have? We make a profit off the Delusions, and they get to spend the last days of their lives wielding a power they otherwise wouldn't have. It's sort of hilarious in a mundane way. They hold onto that tiny bit of power so tightly, and no matter how much it destroys them, they continue to use it because they think they're making a difference. You can't tell me that you don't see the humor behind it." The way he intentionally twist his words around sounds like he tried to provoke Lumine into giving into her anger, but Lumine didn't plan to do it just yet.

"Don't you dare mock them." Lumine's voice is blank, emotionless, causing the Balladeer to smirk.

"It's hard not to. Have you seen how incompetent the Resistance is? If we didn't intervene by sending them supplies, they wouldn't have lasted much longer."

"Teppei wasn't incompetent!" Her shout rang through the empty room. "And they didn't need your help as long as I'm around. You are useless for us."

An amused chuckle escaped Scaramouche. "Really, Traveler, I didn't think you of all people would be so sentimental. It's a little pathetic, really. I thought they said you were strong, strong enough to defeat Stormterror in Mondstadt, and Osial in Liyue. And yet here you are, working as an errand girl for those hopeless resistance. Do you even realize that they're simply using you? Do you really think that they genuinely felt grateful for all that you've done to them?"

"I don't care if they are merely using me or not. As long as I achieve my true goal in the first place." Lumine raises her sword and points it towards the Harbinger. "And my goal now, is to kill ya."

"You? Want to kill me?" Scaramouche burst out into a peal of cruel laughter, with his hand holding his stomach. "And here I thought you were too upset for humor."

"You won't be laughing when I-" She faltered as the room spun. "When I..."

"That's it, just like that! Embrace your anger! Embrace it!" Scaramouche descends the stairs as he slowly approaches Lumine, a mocking grin spread across his face.

"What did... you..." An intense headache filled Lumine's head, she felt like all of her bones are broken in an instant as her body spasmed violently before she fell to the floor.

"I haven't done anything. From the moment you set foot in this factory, the wrath of the gods has been feeding off of your rage. If only you had noticed it sooner, then maybe you wouldn't have been such an easy target."

Still laughing, he continue to walk towards her, but before he could get any closer, a pink figure in a familiar-looking shrine maiden outfit entered the Lumine's blurry vision, intercepting him as she fainted from the overwhelming corruption of the dark energy.

---

As a fox envoy, one of the many Youkai existed in Inazuma, and one of the few species with a really long lifespan. Yae Miko has met and known many people throughout her hundreds of years of living.

She has seen the birth and death of the many people she had known. Each of them leaves a deep impression in her. A death of a friend is certainly something to mourn about, but as the well-known wise and beautiful lady Kitsune she was known for, Yae will be very displeased if someone would saw her being out of character that everyone knows.

And besides, a certain friend of hers has taught her that even if a mortal's body has reached its limit, and the person passed away, the friendship that had been forged between the two individuals would continue to last forever, as long as one of them is still alive.

And even if the two of them died, as long as they existed inside someone's memories, then they would continue to exist for all eternity. That's also what she told her.

But even so, a fox envoy has two stages in their life. The infant stage where they are still stuck in their fox form until a certain amount of time has passed, usually around hundreds of years. And their adult stage where they can finally assume a human form and did what every human can.

When a fox envoy is still in their infant stage, however, they are incapable of doing a number of human feats that they are able to do in their adult stage. In other words, it was equal to a human when they are still a small baby, their ability to remember faces are limited, and the fact that they mostly still rely on their animal instinct doesn't really help either.

That's why Yae always wondered now and then, just how exactly the kind of life she will have if she reached her adult stage prior to the Cataclysm? And what kind of person her former caretaker, Raiden Makoto, was when she took care of the infant fox.

The memories of those days are really faint, just like a distant star glimmering in the night sky, before they completely disappeared when the day comes.

However, in place of remembering faces, the only recollection Yae have of those days are the faint rememberence of the scent and taste she managed to get when in her fox form. Whenever Yae thinks about it, it always makes her chuckle over the thought of her tiny self who likes to bite her caretaker fingers whenever she tried to pet her.

Even now, she still remember the scent of Makoto's hair, and the taste of her dainty and clean fingers.

But aside from Makoto's, there's also another person besides her and her little sister that also gets the taste of her bite once. That person carries around the scent of the stars, and the taste of heaven. Yae never got the chance to interact with that person much, since they only stays with her for only several days before leaving forever.

Or at least that's what Ei always told her.

That person may have only stayed with them for not too long, but Yae still remembers the faint memory of when the tiny fox spent her time with that person. How they play together, how she carried Yae around in her arms the same way Makoto did it, and how she takes her outside to hunt finches together.

Their time together was short, but it was a lot of fun. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Yae desired to meet with that person again, just to see who they were, what's their face looked like, and to talk and ask questions about them.

She knew it was an impossible thing to happen. But it's not hurtful to keep hoping.

That's why, when Yae landed her eyes upon the blonde-haired Traveler that appeared in her shrine four months ago, that's when Yae believe that it's truly a miracle that the person she's been hoping for to come is finally here in Inazuma, again.

Hair that smells like the stars, skin that smooth as silk and white as a fresh milk from the cows of heaven. She is the true definition of grace and beauty. A beautiful maiden hailed all the way from the stars, who is also a fierce warrior that will not hesitate to sweep the battlefield completely clean in order to protect those she cares about.

However, physical characteristics aren't enough. Her smell is definitely the same...

But what about the taste?

---

As consciousness slowly returns to her, Lumine squints her eyes regardless of the fact that her eyes are already closed.

She wants to open them, but every inch of her body felt so heavy, and that awful headache that she vaguely remembers having just moments away before collapsing is still here, albeit less severe than before.

The first thing her ear could hear are the sounds of birds chirping, and sakura trees swayed by the winds. Something is wrapped around her body, something warm and soft. Hot air also constantly hits the back of her neck, as if someone is directly behind her, hugging her closely, and providing her with a much-needed warmth.

It felt good, really good, Lumine is very tempted to be in this sensation for much more longer, so she decided to relax herself and savor every second of it. But just when Lumine was about to let herself relax by this sensation, that someone who was behind her suddenly bit her neck.

"EEP!" With a squeal, Lumine jolt upwards, opens her eyes, and turns around to face her assailant, her hands are only seconds away from materializing her sword. But once she takes a good look at their appearance, Lumine's eyes get wider due to the shock of seeing who it was.

"Yae... Miko?" Lumine questioned, her voice is full of confusion and shock.

"Oh? You recognized me? Good. It seems like your brain is relatively unscathed. Just as well, really, with the amount of effort it took me to get you back here. Honestly, it was like you were glued to the ground back there." The Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine said, rubbing her chin as she eyed the smaller girl with interest.

"You know about that factory?" Lumine asked again, her brain is still unable to process this much information. "How do you know I was there? Also... How did you escape him?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, dear. I have my ways." The fox lady winked with a giggle.

Lumine really want to know how the woman did it, but she supposed there are other important matters to do, and there's no time for them to sit down and chat around.

"You seem different from the last time." Lumine stated, looking at the older-looking woman with a slight suspicion. "We barely even met, and yet, you already talk to me so casually like we have known each other for a long time."

"Am I? Maybe it's because I had the other shrine maidens leave, and without them around, I can act in a more casual manner. Regardless, I've always been like this. People show you whatever side of themselves they want you to see. I know this for a fact." The Kitsune explained with a nod. "Every side of me is the real me. People just like to define things in all sorts of arbitrary ways. This is a human society, at the moment anyway, and I'm just doing as I please."

Miko explained with a giggle, and Lumine suppose that her reason does make sense. Dusting off her dress, Lumine stretches her stiff arms before preparing to walk away.

"Thank you ever so much, Yae-sama." Lumine whispered along with a nod of respect. "If I may, I have to go now, there are things I have to do." She said while walking past Yae.

"Not so fast there, little one." Yae said, as Lumine just walked passed her, stopping the blonde girl in her tracks. "As much as I love it when you thanked me in such a cute manner. I'm afraid that's not enough for you to repay me. I need your actions, not your words." She said while putting her hands on her sides.

"You need me to do something for you?" Lumine said, turning half of her face to face the high priestess.

"That's right." Yae gave her a simple nod. "Before you asked, there's no need to worry about the Fatui anymore. The leader of the Watatsumi Island took some troops to clear out the place out. She's also issued a strict ban on the use of Delusions across the whole army. And with their stronghold exposed, I doubt the Balladeer is stubborn enough to try and retaliate now on his colleagues' behalf. It would be more trouble than it's worth."

Sighing, Yae shook her head. "That Sangonomiya Kokomi, she really outdid herself this time. I'd love to have another chat with her again in person, but alas... belief systems can be such a hindrance sometimes." She said with a small smile.

"Yeah, she's pretty remarkable." Lumine nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, putting that aside for now. There's something I wanted to ask you, Lumine." Yae's gaze becomes serious, looking down at the shorter girl intensely. "You've... Met her, right?"

'Her?' who could Yae possibly mean? It's certainly not someone like Kokomi or Ayaka whom Lumine had spent time with during her time fighting the Vision Hunt Decree. So that must be the Raiden Shogun she's talking about, since the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine is apparently an acquaintance to the Electro Archon, that's what Ayaka and several other people told her.

"Are you asking of the Raiden Shogun?" Lumine asked just for confirmation.

"Yes, but also no." Yae shakes her head. "I'm not talking about the puppet, I mean... Her. You've met her, yes?"

"The puppet? Are you talking about... That place? The one where I saw her meditating?" Lumine narrowed her eyes, is Miko trying to say that the Electro Archon inside and outside of that weird realm is two different individuals?

"Yes, you are correct. That was the true Raiden Shogun who endlessly meditates in the Plane of Euthymia to preserve her being... Her name is Ei."

Lumine visibly gets tensed up when she heard that name. She felt her heart starts shaking and heating harder than normal, a small throb reappear in her head again, but not painful enough to make her clutch it with her palms thankfully.

Ei... What is wrong with that name? Why does it make Lumine react in such a way by just simply hearing that name? Why does an unexplainable feeling of sadness and pain suddenly filled her heart? And what is this feeling of nostalgia that she also felt?

"Hmm, what's wrong? You're spacing out a little." Yae's voice brought Lumine back to reality, she quickly shook her head.

"It's nothing... I just have a little headache for a second." Lumine answered, rubbing her temple.

Yae stared at her with narrowed eyes for about a minute before continuing. "So yes, just like I said before. The one that you encountered during the ceremony is only a puppet. The true Raiden Shogun or Ei however, is the opponent you faced inside the Plane of Euthymia." She explained while crossing her arms.

"Hmm. I should've guessed." Lumine replied with a nod. "I thought it was weird how the flow of elemental energy inside the Shogun is very different from the one I saw inside Morax and Barbatos. But when I entered that strange realm, however, the flow had changed into what an Archon's supposed to be." She explained while gently rubbing her chin with her palm.

"Ah, as expected of the star-born Traveler. You certainly never cease to amaze me." The Kitsune giggled softly. "I guess that spare me the time to explain things in detail then."

"But if that's the truth, then why would she go to such lengths?"

"Because this is the Raiden Shogun's eternity." Yae sighed, showing a very displeased expression. "Before she could pursue eternity for her nation, she first had to attain it for herself. The physical body will eventually turn to dust, and the spirit is susceptible to erosion. To that end, she created a puppet with the singular focus of 'eternity,' and placed her mind within her sword where she could be free from any distractions. This was Ei's solution to realize her own eternity." Yae explained, still keeping the displeased expression which Lumine silently come to an understanding of the reason why.

"Erosion... That's also the reason why he stepped down..." Lumine muttered softly, but Yae's sharp ears quickly catches her murmurs.

"You're talking about Morax?" Lumine nodded in response. "Heh, it's been a while since I last saw him. A surprising decision by the Liyue's Archon. What a fascinating god he is." Yae said with a soft chuckle.

"Zhongli has some reasonable reasons to entrust his nation to the humans. But for the Electro Archon to shut herself off from the rest of the world though..." Lumine looked down, hands clenched into fists.

"Are you disagree with her methods?"

Lumine closed her eyes, frowning. "I don't think it's even called a solution actually." Lumine said as she crossed her arms. "It sounded more like she's running away from her problems. Like a child throwing tantrums before locking herself up in her room."

"A tantrum you said?" Yae asked before bursting out laughing. "Oh my, who would've thought we have much more in common than I thought."

"It's just how interpreted it. Since you are her friend, surely there's more to it than that, right?"

After her laughter finally calmed down, Yae nods her head. "Indeed, there are some other things more complicated than that, but it's not really that important to our goal right now."

"I see."

"Okay then, now that I finished explaining things. What do you say, Traveler? Will you lend me a hand?" Yae asked, arms crossed and eyes eyeing Lumine with a stern and calculative gaze.

Lumine was silent for a couple of seconds. Thinking about the things that Miko just told her. Miko wanted to save her friend from loneliness and isolation she has to endure while inside the Plane of Euthymia, and also to change the goddess' way of thinking so that she would put her trust in her people once more.

Lumine on the other hand doesn't care really much about the Shogun's feelings and tragic backstory. All she cares about now is to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree, returning all of those stolen Visions back to their rightful owners. Her original plan was to seek the Electro Archon and ask her for information regarding her Brother and Khaenri'ah. But after witnessing the suffering the people went through because of the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Decree, the death of her dear friend in the resistance army, and also the fact that she tried to kill Lumine during their first encounter. Lumine is now doubting if the purple-haired God would even care to answer her questions.

And that in mind, Lumine made her choice.

"To be perfectly honest with you. I don't really care about all of these tragic stories about her, or the reasons behind her endless pursuit of Eternity." Lumine finally answered, huffing as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms, her lips turned into a frown. "I really hate that woman for all the misery she caused to her people, and the death for those on the resistance army who fights against the decree."

Lumine opened her eyes and looked up towards the Sacred Sakura Tree. "Fatui manipulation or not, Inazuma is her nation, her responsibilities. Her will is absolute to the people of this nation, and it was the fault of her foolishness to listen to the Fatui that caused Inazuma to become what it was today."

Lumine looked back towards Yae, the taller woman is staring at her with interest. "I fight because I want to protect the weak, to smite the arrogant fools who think they're superior to others around them." Putting a hand on her chest, Lumine's eyes burned with determination as she looked directly into Yae's purple eyes. "And besides, like you said, I have a debt to repay. So please, tell me what I need to do."

Hearing those words, Yae smiled, silently humming in joy. "Now that's the spirit." She said with a nod. "It's relatively simple actually. All you need to do is to hop inside the Plane of Euthymia again and defeat Ei in battle. Do that, and you should be able to shake the Raiden Shogun's will."

"Go back to the Plane of Euthymia?"

"Exactly. Oh, and while we're at it. Please remember to make sure you entered it while you're near the Omnipresent God statue, it'll make things easier for you while you're inside." Yae explained while rubbing her chin.

"You want me to fight her again?" Lumine asked with her eyes narrowed.

"That won't be a problem, will it?"

"No, it's not." Lumine shook her head. "It's just... The last time I fought her, I was nearly killed because her moves are so unpredictable, combined with my unpreparedness. But..." Lumine clenched her fist tightly. "Maybe with enough training, and a throughout search of my memory during that battle, I can best her this time."

"Oh, darling, I knew you would be worried about that." Chuckling, Yae walked past Lumine and into the Shrine's entrance. "But fortunately for you, however, you don't need to do that far to best Ei in her martial arts."

"What do you mean?" Lumine asked in confusion, tilting her head a little.

"I have prepared a special training device for you to use for the upcoming battle. It's somewhere near Konda Village." Yae looked at Lumine and gestured for her to exit the shrine. "After you now, Traveler."

Nodding Lumine walked out of the Grand Narukami Shrine before unfolding her wind glider and glided down towards the foothills of mount Yougou.

As she watched Lumine fly away, Yae sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Look at what you have done to her, Ei. The poor little one is mad at you."

---

After a total of six months of hard work, countless battles, running, and hiding. It's all finally come to this.

After three days of perfecting her ability to predict, to dodge, and block the replica of the attack movements of the Raiden Shogun that the training device that Miko created for her, Lumine and Yae began to conduct their plan.

For the first primary goal of their plan is to somehow make Lumine enter the Tenshukaku, the royal palace where the Shogun resided.

It sounded impossible given the fact that the palace is heavily guarded by the Shogunate Samurais. And being the most wanted person in Inazuma with the Almighty Shogun herself who issued the arrest order doesn't make the situation any better either.

That's when Yae devised a plan to turn a higher ranking member of the Tenryou commission against the shogunate army, a person who holds high devotion and utmost loyalty to the Electro Archon. And by that, Miko means Kujou Sara, someone that Lumine never thought being able to meet again asides in the battlefield when Lumine leads her Swordfish II squad patrolling around Kannazuka.

Being the adopted daughter of the Kujou Clan, the Clan that is now currently leading the Tenryou Commission, one of the tri-Commissions that managed the military affairs in Inazuma, Sara has all the powers to arrest Lumine now and then inside the Grand Narukami Shrine.

But since the Shrine is a holy ground dedicated to the Raiden Shogun, Sara's belief in the Archon has proven to be more stronger than her sense of duty to the Clan she was adopted to and the commission that she served.

It was by using these factors that Yae has found Sara's weakness that she could exploit to their advantage of advancing their plan.

In order to turn Kujou Sara against her own army that she leads, Yae planned to show her a proof that the Tenryou commissioner who happens to be also her adoptive father, is colluding with the Fatui, and that any battle reports that the Shogun's Army gets during their battles against the Sangonomiya Resistance, has been rigged before it was sent to the Shogun, giving the Electro Archon fake information for the past couple of years.

Of course, Sara was in an absolute disbelief when she heard Yae said such outrageous information, but the sly fox however is not one who goes down without a fight. After asking for three days to collect the needed evidence to turn the woman into a usable pawn, Yae insisted on the help of the Shuumatsuban Ninja, Sayu, an expert of stealth despite of her small stature.

After paying Ayaka and Thoma a visit in the Komore Teahouse (Reuniting with Paimon in the process who were worried sick about the Traveler's safety.) Lumine tells them her plan to enter the Tenshukaku, and with the combined efforts of the Yashiro commission, Yoimiya's fireworks, and Sayu's incredible ninja skills. Lumine managed to acquire the needed documents that can be used as proof. Delivering it to the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine just in time when Sara arrived to collect the promised proof.

As she watched the way Sara's face slowly crumbled with every second she read the documents, Lumine felt bad for the woman. To watch how the very foundation on which Sara had built her devotions and beliefs instantly crumbled beneath her. To see her steadfast resolve of such an honorable warrior, who had fought tooth and nail for an Archon she truly loved and respected, shattered by the very man who had brought her into his clan and raised her, yet even as the lies that had been woven around her came undone, she still sought to right the wrongs of her family's betrayal.

When Sara ran back to the Tenryou Commission's headquarters. Lumine decided to follow her after Miko permitted her to do so. Once they were inside, what Lumine had anticipated was true. The shogunate army that Sara had trained and lead immediately turn their swords on her, forcing the general with the aid of Lumine to fight them, knocking them all out instead of killing them per Sara's wishes.

And that's when they met him, Kujou Takayuki, the Tenryou Commissioner, the current head of the Kujou Clan, and the adoptive father of Kujou Sara. When asked about the fake reports, the man didn't even bother to hide his misdeeds, his arrogance has blinded him of the terrible consequences that he will brought upon the land of eternity should he continue his doings. But when Sara's adoptive father had once again shown his lack of interest in honoring their clan's long-lived name, Sara decided to take matters into her own hands.

And so, casting aside her misgivings, she ran to reveal the depths of the Tenryou Commission's treachery to their deity. With the blonde-haired Traveler following her behind, watching as the Tengu warrior easily swept away all the guards that blocked their path before entering the Tenshukaku to seek an audience with the Shogun.

Which leads to what happened now.

After following Sara's trail, Lumine finally arrived at the throne room of the Raiden Shogun. It was a massive square room that was devoid of any kinds of other furnishings except for the throne of the Elecro Archon and several screen panels.

As she ran deeper into the room, Lumine's eyes is able to make out the two figures standing at the end of the room. One is the purple-haired woman who is Electro Archon, which according to Yae is actually a puppet made in the image of Ei. And the other one is another woman with platinum blonde hair, and a black mask that covers her right eye, even by simply looking at the woman's garments, Lumine is able to instantly recognize her as La Signora, the 8th of the Fatui Harbingers, the one responsible for the loss of Venti's Gnosis.

"The way people charge in here are they please, so uncivilized..." That annoying haughty tone, it's just like what Lumine always remembered. "If I didn't know this was Tenshukaku, I might have mistaken it for some kind of street market."

"Oh no, what has she done to Kujou Sara..." Being focused on Signora, Lumine failed to notice the unconscious body of Kujou Sara on the floor until Paimon mentioned it.

"The right to punish Inazuman for their crimes is mine alone. Not yours, Signora." It was the voice of the Shogun, Lumine gives a quick glance to the puppet, the Shogun's eyes are closed and her arms are crossed, as if to give an impression that she was unimpressed by what just happened.

"...Then I apologize, Almighty Shogun."

Approaching Sara's body, Lumine crouched down to check on her, the pulse on her wrist shows that she was thankfully still alive. But the bruises and scars across her skin with some of them are even bleeding make Lumine grimaced in concern for the Tengu woman.

"Signora!" After sending a quick healing breeze with her Anemo powers to at least stop the bleeding. Lumine calls out to the Fatui Harbinger as she turns around to face the bigger woman.

"I know, I know, you can't get me out of your mind, but you really don't need to call my name all the time." The woman groaned in annoyance with a click of her tongue. "Don't go thinking I'm surprised to see you here. I'm well aware that you hate me, with the way you follow me around like a dark shadow." She said while crossing her arms.

"You're the one who distributes the Delusions." Lumine exclaimed, giving the puppet Shogun another quick glance. "And now that you're here, I assume you're trying to take control of Inazuma as well?"

"Ah, so you came to expose my crimes in front of the Shogun?" The woman asked before doing that god-awful laugh again. "I'm just a Snezhnayan diplomat. I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." The way she's trying to act oblivious makes Lumine's eye twitch.

"She doesn't take us seriously at all." Paimon who was besides Lumine, stomped her feet in the air.

"You're going to take responsibility For all who have been harmed by Delusions, and for those who lost their Visions." Lumine's voice was cold and blank. Signora even paused for a second when she realized the hidden deep hatred behind the blonde girl's words.

"Stop talking about people and things that I care nothing about. They were nobodies to begin with, and their names will be forgotten. But now, at least, they get to be building blocks in the grand revolution to realize eternity. Is that not the greatest honor they could hope for in their tiny little lives?" The Fatui woman turned her head to look at the Shogun. "Almighty Shogun... Do correct me if I'm wrong?"

The Electro Archon remained silent as she passively observed the exchange in front of her.

The way she still keeps her eyes closed makes Lumine wonders what was the puppet -or Ei inside- was thinking right now.

"They are not nobodies!" Lumine yelled in anger. "And they certainly won't be forgotten because I'll remember them. As long as I'm alive, their memories won't be forgotten. That is what truly eternal in this world."

With her focus being solely on Signora, Lumine failed to notice how the puppet Shogun opens her eyes and stared at Lumine, as if to imply that she was surprised with what the blonde girl just said.

"And not just that. But also for Venti's Gnosis and the people of Liyue Harbour that you harmed."

"That's ancient history. You certainly love to hold a grudge." Signora shook her head as she clicked her tongue again. "The Tsaritsa's dream is the noblest and purest thing in all the world. These other mundane details you insist on mentioning... They're just necessary sacrifices. That's all."

This is too much. Lumine could feel her blood boils in rage, hatred. She desired this woman dead, Childe seems to dislike her, so it's shouldn't be a problem if she just kill a single Harbinger, right?

"I think It's time for me to stop this, and shut that filthy mouth of yours, Signora. Once and for all." The venom inside Lumine's words caused Signora to pause again.

"You? Stop me?" But it won't be long before the woman completely brushed it off with a laugh. "Your audacious attitude is quite entertaining to see. You think because you have defeated that rascal, Childe, means you're on the same level as me? Although, for what it's worth, I've grown tired of seeing you around as well. But I didn't have you down as someone quite so foolhardy."

Signora rubs her chin with her palm as she looked down at Lumine. "Before you go saying something you can't take back, remember that you're Inazuma's most wanted criminal. I suggest you consider your circumstances very carefully. Charging into Tenshukaku uninvited and lecturing me in front of the Shogun wasn't the brightest move. Don't you think it's time you stopped digging?" Signora lightly shook her head as she narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure you realize quite how much distance between us, both in status... and in strength."

"The only difference between us in status is that you're about to die here, Fatui scum." With determination burning in her eyes, Lumine took a stance as she spoke up. "Signora! I challenge you to a duel before the throne!"

Silence fell over the room by that last single sentence.

"Proceed."

Signora glanced up at the emotionless face of the puppet Shogun. Who has given them the permission to battle before the god's very eyes.

Clicking her tounge again, Signora looked at her opponent sharply. "My, you're full of surprises today. So you've learned to make the law of the land work for you too, hmm? I'll admit that I never expected to be in a situation where the two of us were on equal footing."

Lumine narrowed her eyes when she felt the room temperature begin to drop. A bitter cold is slowly pouring out of the Harbinger and to the walls and floor of the throne room.

"As per your wishes, it's settled that the loser must die. Do you still wish to continue?"

"Absolutely."

"Lumi..." Paimon gives Lumine a worried glance, but Lumine calmed the pixie down and tells her to go back to her pocket dimension.

With that settled, an ice barrier surrounded Signora as she laughed. "Then I will deign to share this last dance with you. Till death do us part."

---

For the second time that year. The eyes of the Raiden Shogun opened.

Something just interrupted her meditation again. This time, it was because she felt that familiar presence again. The same one that she felt during the ceremony four months ago.

Ei widened her eyes when she realized to whom the familiar presence belongs to.

"Lumine is nearby?" Ei asked to no one in particular.

Curious, she linked her vision with the eyes of the puppet Shogun. And sure enough, Lumine was indeed there, inside the throne room of the Tenshukaku, exchanging insults and threats with a Snezhnayan diplomat, who is in truth to be one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers sent by the Cryo Archon, the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya.

Their argument ended up with Lumine challenging the Harbinger to a duel before the throne. Shocking Ei as she didn't expect the blonde girl to be bold enough to challenge a Fatui Harbinger, an individual with monstrous strength that was unrivaled by normal humans.

But before Ei could do anything, the puppet Shogun already gave them the permission. Leaving Ei to have no other choice but to watch the ensuing battle between the two.

The Fatui lady, Signora, if Ei remembers correctly, is a tough opponent just as expected of a Fatui Harbringer. Her battle tactics involve slowly wearing Lumine down with the bitter coldness of the Cryo Delusion she possessed. The entire palace has become akin to a giant freezer now. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, and even the throne where the Raiden Shogun usually sit on top off during free times, it was all frozen in ice created by the Delusion. If it wasn't for the fact that she was currently observing the battle in front of her, the Puppet Shogun would likely have a word or two to the Harbringer for damaging her precious throne, but that wasn't important right now.

In contrast with her opponent, Signora keeps her composure even during the battle, calmly standing there and firing multiple shards of ice towards Lumine who tried all she could to penetrate the ice barrier around the Fatui lady.

While this is happening, the puppet Shogun didn't take her eyes off Lumine, observing her every single one of her moves, and sending the informations she gathered directly into Ei inside the Plane of Euthymia. Just like last time, Ei is comparing Lumine's moveset with the one she knew all of those years ago. And to her surprise, it's all matched perfectly.

After what happened during the ceremony four months ago, Ei had spent her time thinking about Lumine. Thinking of all possibilities for the reason why this Lumine is so different, but at the same time, also the same with the one she knew as her dear friend 500 years ago before the Cataclysm struck.

Her physical aspects are all the same as the Lumine she remembered. But in terms of other aspects such as the flow of her elemental energy, aura of divinity, and lastly mental capabilities, it was all different.

Lumine is an outlander that hail from a distant world that was different from Tevyat. She wasn't capable of using elemental powers, but she's able to use other forms of magical powers that no one in Tevyat except for her twin older brother able to use, such as her ability to materialized and dematerialized things with ease, and then there's also her golden wings that she could use to fly high into the sky. But this Lumine that she saw, even though she's still can making things disappear and reappear at will, she's incapable of flights or any other magical abilities that Ei recognizes anymore.

And then, in terms of aura of divinity, this Lumine is also different than what she used to be. One of the many abilities that an Archon possesses is to see the aura of divinity that a person has. Normal humans did not possess this kind of aura, but a divine beings however, particularly an Archon or the gods of Celestia, they all have their own aura. It was through this way that an Archon can tell if someone is a god or not if they're assuming a human vessel. As a divine being in her own world, Lumine too possesses an aura of divinity, one that heavily differs from the gods in Tevyat, another thing that makes her special. But the Lumine that she saw now does not possess that aura anymore. Instead, the filth that Ei recognizes as the stench from Celestia is the one that filled her now.

And then last but not least, why didn't she remember Ei? There are some possibilities that she might have an amnesia or a post-traumatic disorder that made her forget, but what is it? What kind of tragedy that befell her during the Cataclysm? Ei didn't know. But one thing she knows for sure, is that whatever Lumine through that time had changed her drastically. The fact that her personality is different, and her eyes that used to be full of life and hope has now become nothing more but a dull and dark golden orbs that got swallowed by darkness instead of glowing brightly in them, just proves that.

But just like last time. No matter how much Ei trying to convince herself that the blonde girl that she's watching now isn't Lumine. Her heart refused to believe that.

Signora screamed when Lumine finally managed to pass through her ice barrier. Her sword slashed the woman's abdomen, leaving a nasty scar on her midsection. Not finished yet, Lumine then stomped the ground with her feet, causing a geo construct to rose from the ground and hit Signora on her chin. Sending the platinum-haired woman high into the air where Lumine send her next assault by throwing nine Electro charged Abundance Amulets to Signora who screamed in pain as the amulets dug deep into her skin and electrocute her with high velocity as she fell into the floor with a loud thud.

Signora coughed heavily, spitting out blood in the process. As she looked into the floor below her, stained by her own blood, the Harbinger looked up to Lumine, the girl is giving her a cold emotionless eyes.

"How dare you make me bleed..." Signora clenches her fists tightly. "I'll get rid of that ugly face of yours!"

Another barrier of ice formed around Signora, this time it was a lot thicker and stronger than the last, protectively covering the woman like a cocoon waiting to hatch.

But it was nothing in the eyes Lumine. Having an unimpressed look in her eyes, the blonde girl holds her sword upwards as Anemo energy swirled around her, along with crackling Electro thunder. After a minute of gathering energy, she channeled both elements into her sword, and dashed towards the ice cocoon, giving it a single powerful slash that made it cracks.

As she stopped a few meters away from it, Lumine turns around to see glowing red lights slowly coming out from the cracks on the cocoon before it suddenly exploded into a mass of flames and darkness. Narrowing her eyes, Lumine witnessed how all the ice in the room immediately melted as the temperature drastically turned from low to high. And then, emerging from the mass of darkness in the middle of the room was Signora, fully transformed into a being that didn't resemble a human at all except for the upper part of the body.

Now thrice the tall of the blonde girl, Signora, the Crimson Witch of Embers, let's out a maniacal laugh as she spreads her newly formed wings, spitting fires all around the room.

"Be honored, distant Traveler! For this form of mine shall be the last thing you'll ever see in the world of the living!" Signora exclaimed loudly as she continued the battle with her true form.

This new form of her has proven to be quite a challenge to Lumine. Many times she got hit by liquified flame Signora used as a whip, the meteors she summoned, or the fire tornadoes that turns everything it touches into ashes.

Meanwhile, while this is happening, the puppet Shogun continues to observe the battle. Ei solely focused on Lumine, as she watched how the blonde girl occasionally got injured by her opponent's attack which burned her skin, Ei is very tempted to get out, to leave the Plane of Euthymia, and took control of the puppet Shogun's body, so that she could help her (friend?) fighting the enemies. But Ei still holds back because her mind keeps telling her that the person she's watching is not the real Lumine and was only a trickery made by Celestia.

Thankfully, however, Ei didn't need to worry for long as Lumine quickly proved just how capable she was of taking down a person three times taller than her.

With a cry, Lumine struck her blade into Signora's chest, eliciting yet another scream of pain from the witch. Jumping off of the woman, taking her sword with her, Lumine landed a few meters away, back facing Signora as her form disintegrates, returning her back to her human form.

The winner has been decided.

"So strong... but how? How can you be this strong!?" As she coughed and wheezed, Signora weakly asked her opponent, as the blonde girl turned around to face her fallen enemy.

"I touched a statue a couple of months ago." Lumine said, both her voice and expression are blank.

Groaning in anger, Signora gave Lumine a sharp look. "Oh... You think you're being cute?!"

"Bitch, I'm Adorable." Drawing her sword, Lumine slowly approaches the Harbinger. "It's time to end this, Signora."

Signora gritted her teeth as she tried to stand up, Lumine is staring down at her with eyes full of rage and hatred, the blonde-haired Traveler is ready to kill this woman right here right now.

But before Lumine could take another step towards the Fatui lady, the puppet Shogun walked past her, and Lumine saw her holding the Musou no Hitotachi in her hand, the Electro Archon who had witnessed the entire battle knows who's the winner now, and as per the rules both participants had agreed upon, the loser will now be formally executed by the Almighty Shogun.

"I am a Snezhnayan diplomat! Do you know what happens if you lay a finger on me!? I swear, if you strike me, I will make sure... the Fatui will make sure that your precious Inazuma..." Signora's words fell on deaf ears, the unmoving god's blade glowed a bright purple as she continue to stalk towards the other woman.

"Stop! I order you!" Fear is clearly seen on her face, but even in the face of death, the Fatui lady still tried to mask it with her arrogance. "And you! Filthy rats, all of you!" In her final act, the Harbinger attacked the god she had sought to manipulate, but in her weakened state, she was completely powerless to avoid her divine punishment at the hands of the goddess of eternity.

Lumine's eyes widened as she witnessed the witch's demise. The Musou no Hitotachi, a frightening display of power and technique, made quick work of the arrogant Harbinger. Skin flaking as the fire inside her petered out, a serene expression came over her face as she disintegrated into nothing but a pile of ashes, falling into the floor.

"You are the enemy of eternity." Hearing those words, Lumine draws her sword again and took a defensive stance, preparing for another battle. "But as the victor, I acknowledge your honor." The Shogun turned her back on the traveler, "Therefore, I shall allow you to leave Tenshukaku alive. Now leave."

Lumine was about to say something, but was prevented by Paimon who appeared from her pocket dimension and urge her to leave, worrying about Lumine's safety, and that it's better to obey what the Shogun just tell her. Agreeing with this, Lumine decided to leave the Tenshukaku behind.

After Lumine exited the throne room, Ei sighed while she was inside the Plane of Euthymia. After watching the Traveler fight for the second time, Ei's conflicting emotions about Lumine have risen again. Watching Lumine fights does not prove whether she was the real one or a fake one created by Celestia, maybe a more close contact is needed to prove whether she was real or not.

And Ei knows exactly what to do in order to do that.

---

A dense haze clouded her mind as she walked, the throbbing that was festering at the back of her mind finally coming to a head. As the tendrils of hatred that gnawing her heart had finally receded.

The sound of her heels over the wooden floor loudly echoes over and over again on her head.

"The Raiden Shogun isn't gonna let us off like that, right?" Paimon's voice is loud against the temporal silence over the courtyard. Worry and fear can be clearly recognized on it. "The air feels suffocating... It must be the Raiden Shogun's almightiness..."

Lumine tried to process the results of her fight with the Harbinger. Signora was slain, leaving her the victor, yet somehow she wasn't satisfied. Why? She stopped to clear her head.

"One strike from the Shogun, and now Signora's gone." Lightning falls over the stairs, pieces of rock and wood go flying away, leaving behind holes and marks of scorching. "She got what she deserved, but Paimon still can't help but feel upset."

Paimon was right. That was what Lumine wanted, wasn't it? To put a stop to the Fatui's machinations? Yet, somehow...

An unsettling atmosphere hung over the castle as she made her way to the gates. Was someone watching her? Head pounding, she stopped once more to clear her mind.

"Let's get out of this place, Paimon feels unsettled." Once again, Lumine agreed to what Paimon said, but with what was happening inside her mind, it's really hard for Lumine to move her legs. "Also, when the Shogun executed Signora with the Musou no Hitotachi, it was unbelievably powerful. It seems impossible to defend against it, and if so, we've got no hope whatsoever of defeating her in combat."

Lumine could hear the faint shouting coming from outside the castle walls. Did something happen? The guards were all gone now. Maybe there's a fight out in the streets.

As she continue to descend the stairs, the unsettling sensation in her head got worsened, especially when she saw the tip of the wings of the Omnipresent God Statue, if she remembers... Yae said something about it.

"So to recap, Yae Miko wants us to go back inside the Plane of Euthymia by the Statue of the Omnipresent God, right?" Right. The unsettling atmosphere along with the headache in her head caused Lumine to lose focus. How could she forgot the important part of their plan? "But, we'll be like lambs to the slaughter, won't we? M-Maybe we could put this plan on hold for a while"

Lumine doubted that they could do that. After what just happened in the throne room, Lumine doubted the Raiden Shogun will be kind enough to let her freely roam Inazuma as she did four months ago. But nevertheless, she still needs to clear her head a little, and getting out of this place should just do that.

Reaching the imposing gates, she was in time to witness the resistance army charging up the steps of the castle. Gorou and Kazuha were in front clearing a path for their comrades.

Luminous gold met with maple red as the Traveler and the first Inazuman friend she made came into view of each other. The sight of her friends she made along her journey made her headache disappear almost instantly, Lumine went to meet them halfway, but the moment she set foot outside the gate, the feeling she had of being watched earlier culminated in the sudden appearance of a crackling presence. The eyes of her companions widened in horror, and as she turned around, she caught a glimpse of an arm reaching out of the portal, the emotionless eyes of the Raiden Shogun stared down at her as the god's hand clamped around her neck before pulling her into the portal.

The screams of her companions shouting her name is the last thing she heard before the portal closed and Lumine suddenly finds herself falling into the sandy ground of a familiar place she instantly recognizes as the Plane of Euthymia.

Meditating in the middle of the realm is the true Raiden Shogun, the Electro Archon of Inazuma, who goes by the name of Ei.

Ei stopped her meditation, feet landing softly on the ground of her personal realm, the goddess of thunder opens her eyes.

"So, we meet again."

---

They're doing it again. Ei is now alone with Lumine again inside her personal realm. Where the flow of time doesn't affect the real world, meaning that they have as much needed time they want to chat and fight without any outside interruptions.

After thinking about it for decades inside the Plane of Euthymia, which equals to several minutes in the real world, Ei has reached a conclusion that the best way to prove that this Lumine was indeed the same one that arrived in Inazuma 500 years ago, the one who befriended her and her friends, Chiyo and Saiguu, the one whom she can relate with, the one who smiled at her as she prepared dinner for the twin sisters, and the one who made her having an unexplainable strange feeling for the girl for the first time, Ei must duel with her again.

Only with a good duel the two of them can connect once more, just like when they did it all those years ago.

If Lumine won, then Ei would be more than happy to fulfill anything that the girl desired. And if Ei won, then the goddess will have Lumine for her to inspect and study. Either way, it's all worth it. She just needs to provoke her a little.

"Indulge my curiosity, Traveler. What is the reason that I find you standing here before me once again? Do you hope your foolhardiness will shelter those people? Or, was it simply a means of seeking an audience with me?" Ei didn't know the reason why Lumine is back in Inazuma in the first place, but the fact that she defies the Vision Hunt Decree means that her goal must be related to the Electro Archon.

"The Vision Hunt Decree should never have existed." The traveler spoke up with an unwavering voice, her blade is ready to face the Shogun.

"Oh? Surely you didn't rouse me from my state of eternal meditation only to tell me this? If so, then you underestimate me. I am quite well-informed about the Vision Hunt Decree." Ei raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

"You know everything that's going on outside?"

"Not everything. Only that which I deem necessary." So shook her head before closing her eyes. "Which as it stands, is everything pertaining to eternity. The Vision Hunt Decree has my tacit approval. And the Fatui's actions thus far do not constitute a threat to eternity, otherwise... they would've been purged long ago."

Lumine gritted her teeth, hands bawled into fist as anger slowly filled her mind again. "But the Vision Hunt Decree is damaging! It causes a great cost to the people of Inazuma!"

Ei sighed, never before she dreamed of arguing about philosophies with someone that she saw as a friend like this. With Miko being the exception of course.

Nevertheless, friend or not, Ei had chosen this path a long time ago, and will not hesitate to voice her own thoughts to someone who defied her eternity, even if it was her friend.

"Individual ambition is inherently incompatible with eternity. What you might not realize is that too often... People have far more to lose by chasing their dreams." Ei's mind drifted to the memories of her first friend Sasayuri as she said that. Opening her eyes, Ei looked at Lumine with a narrowed gaze. "Consider this. No one will lose their life on account of having their Visions taken away. Rather, those who have lost their lives are the one who insisted on pursuing their own aspirations, are they not?"

"Teppei..." Lumine remembered the last words that Teppei said before his death, the memory brings sadness and pain to her heart. But it also deepens her determination to abolish the decree now, once and for all.

"Traveler, no..." Ei shook her head, eyes visibly get softened as she said her next words. "Lumine, your existence is unique in my eyes. There seems to be limitless uncertainty in you. To put it another way, you are the furthest thing from eternity." It is true. For five hundred years Ei had pursued the eternity that she wished to uphold. But Lumine's unexpected arrival has made her doubting the whole thing. "So I won't insist that you comprehend the meaning of my actions. What matters is that I tread the path of eternity in my people's behalf."

"This is your Plane of Euthymia. It is created by your consciousness, yes?" Lumine suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"That's right. I'm surprised you understand it so well." How did she know about it? Does someone told her about it? "Anyway. You're looking for a chance to shake my will... Aren't you?"

"I'm not here to debate your ideas." Lumine shook her head. With her eyes narrowed, she pointed her sword towards her. "I'm here to demolish them."

"So be it, you who would defy eternity..." Summoning her naginata, Ei also took a stance. "Time for you to enlighten me."

"Come, Lumine. Let us dance, so I can see just who you truly are."

And with that, the two engaged in a battle once more.

Thanks to her three days of training using the device Miko gives her, Lumine is now more prepared to face Ei now. By focusing on her opponent, and try to imagine it as the training device, she's able to predict the attacks that Ei's about to do, and in return, she's able to think of the perfect way to dodge or block the attacks.

However, there is one major detail that the training device failed to take: a moving target. Ei is flitting around the sandy ground of the Plane of Euthymia at a speed that even Lumine's eyes couldn't see. And while she is able to dodge most of the attacks from the Elecro Archon, the fact that she's just defeated a Fatui Harbinger, costing her a lot of energy and also inflicted some injuries on her, Lumine would sometimes fail to dodge or block an attack, damaging her already lightly wounded body.

But since she already come this far, giving up is not a choice for Lumine to take. Even if she never land a successful attack on the Electro Archon, even if she broke some of her bones, she won't give up, she will fight till the end!

Metal hitting metal, the Traveler's sword clashed with the Shogun's naginata. Lumine attempted to push Ei with force and the aid of the gust of Anemo she placed under her foot. But, with a simple blink of an eye, a thunder struck the ground and pushed Lumine back a few meters away from Ei.

Panting heavily, Lumine tries to stand up, but her legs felt heavy, already giving up before her mind did. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Lumine tried again, using her sword as support, but she fell on her knees again, her exhaustion is too much for her body to handle.

"Dear me. Aren't you cutting it rather close?" That familiar mature voice caught her off guard. It's the voice of Yae Miko, but how did she get in here? Is Lumine just imagining things?

"Miko... this was your doing?" Ei's reaction confirms that it wasn't, and the sudden appearance of the pink-haired Kitsune besides the blonde girl washed away any doubts Lumine have.

The Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine chuckled. "Now, now. Don't forget who taught you how to place your consciousness in objects." A hand was placed on Lumine's shoulder, and the gentle squeeze it gives eased Lumine's worries away. "Surely you don't think that your ambition alone is enough to shake Ei's will, do you? Though you are alone here, they too have ambitions which they long since entrusted to you." Miko whispered directly into her ear.

Lumine's mind once again thinks about Teppei. About his aspirations, the smile on his face when the two hang out, and lastly, his determination of ending the Vision Hunt Decree.

"Now then, close your eyes." The Kitsune besides her said, and Lumine did just that. The voices from when she had touched the Omnipresent God filled her mind once more, threatening to induce another bout of headaches, but she willed herself to listen. Hopes and dreams. Desires and wishes. Ambitions that burned as brightly as the sun. She heard them all, each voice filling her with renewed determination to see this fight through.

The dark skies inside the Plane of Euthymia slowly lits up, multiple different colored stars filled the sky, and the black and red streaks are replaced by bright golden rays. And standing under this newly brighten up sky was Lumine, surrounded by golden aura.

Ei widened her eyes in shock as she stared at what happened in front of her. When the skies suddenly lits up, something had changed inside Lumine. It was as if something just broke, like a barrier or a seal of some sort, allowing the divine energy -one that Ei is familiar with, the one that the Lumine she knows possessed- to pour out of the blonde girl, allowing her to stand up as it heals all of her wounds and restores her energy.

Ei smiled after realizing this, putting away her naginata, she summoned the Musou no Hitotachi, ready to face Lumine again for round two.

In her thousands of years of existence, never once Ei experienced losing in a battle. Being the Kagemusha of her late older sister, Ei has studied and perfected every martial arts that she could, in hopes of becoming a reliable sword for her sister to use in order to protect Inazuma from its various threat. The great serpent Orobashi, the thunderbird of Tsurumi Island, and some other divine beings, they all fell under the might of her strength. With all these victories, Ei always thought that she had been successful in becoming the perfect blade of Makoto. But this battle with Lumine however, is about to prove her wrong.

Lumine charged forward, she felt her like the wings that she had lost a long time ago when she was sealed by the Unknown God had returned, and is now erupting from her back once more. Despite the fact that there's nothing there.

The power of ambitions give her the extra boost in speed she needed to outpace the goddess of eternity. Pushing the Archon back, her moves became desperate as she tried to counter the barrage of attacks from the Traveler who uses her now amplified three elemental powers simultaneously.

The Anemo powers allow Lumine to jump high into the air, and it also gives her the ability to freely glide in the air with the speed of winds. The Geo powers give Lumine an impenetrable defense, every time Ei tried to hit her where she have no time to react and counter it, a Geo construct would cover that part of hers that was about to get attacked, leaving Lumine completely unscathed. And then there's the Electro powers who give Lumine the speed of light, one that rivaled or even surpassed the Shogun.

With a quick dash that Ei wasn't prepared for, Lumine once again slashed at Ei who barely able to react long enough to block the attack. Her surprise caused the Electro Archon to lose her footing and her hand shaking, this is all Lumine need to finish this.

With a burst of Anemo under her feet, Lumine pushed the Electro Archon back, and with a quick twist of her wrist, Lumine slashed upwards, completely catching Ei off guard and causing her to release her sword and the purple coated tachi was cast to the side.

Now's her chance!

Ei was about to move and retrieve her sword, but she couldn't because a Geo construct suddenly rose from the ground and entrapped her foot, preventing her from moving at all.

"We're done here!" With a speed of light, Lumine rushed towards Ei who could do nothing but brace herself.

In one second, Lumine stopped a meter away behind Ei, dematerializing her sword after she had done the finishing blow.

Looking down, Ei saw the big scar on her abdomen from Lumine's finishing attack. And the pain that came soon after caused the purple haired woman to fall on her knees, coughing heavily. However, she doesn't need to worry, because Lumine's attack are not fatal enough to kill her, but it was enough to finally end the battle.

"You've lost, Ei." Yae stated, staring down at her old friend with her usual smile on her face.

After the pain has finally receded. Ei lets out a sigh, before standing up.

"Yes. I have."

Now that things are settled for now, Lumine approached the two of them, listening to the exchanges between the two old friends.

"Why can you not trust your people, and in the power of their ambitions?" The kitsune asked. "These ambitions have transcended space and time. They are something that one cannot snuff out."

"When people move forward with all their might, they can surpass the god's expectations, and even take over their work." Lumine added, crossing her arms as did som

"Is this the lesson you learned from your journey in Liyue?" Turning her head to the side, Miko is asking Lumine now.

"Yes." She nodded, "And even in Mondstadt, the land of the wind, where the Anemo Archon refuses to rule, the people there move forward without any guidance from their god."

"There are nations where humans cast aside their god and stride forward?" Yae thought, her eyes are filled with interest. "So, are we to just abandon the notion of progress for the sake of wishful thinking?"

Ei looked at Yae for a second, sighing heavily as she put her hand on her chest. "...Yae, you and I have both witnessed the great loss that progress can bring. Eternity... eternity is the only way."

A strange melancholy fell over the god as she spoke. "There was a time when I wielded my blade in the name of progress. Using it, I purged any and all obstacles that stood in our way, but with each step forward, something was lost. My friends... in the end, I even lost her, she who was my entire reason for being. That day, when an entire nation lost everything to the Heavenly Principles, I made a promise. The present moment is a fragile illusion, but if it is trapped forever in the grasp of eternity, then that beauty need never fade. 'Mine is the most supreme and noble form. Let power over the realm be vested in me. In this form, I shall honor my subjects' dream for a land of Eternity, unchanging forevermore."

As Ei finished her tragic tale, something weird is happening inside Lumine. For some reason, hearing it makes her feel sorry for Shogun because of an unknown and unexplainable reasons, she doesn't know why she would feel sorry for someone she hated deeply for what they've done, but the more Lumine try to think about it, a headache starts to appear in her head again.

"The Heavenly Principles, irrelevant nonsense as far as I'm concerned. When all's said and done, all you really want to do is protect your beloved Inazuma forever and ever. Isn't that right?" Yae asked, arms still crossed and eyes still narrowed.

"That's a gross oversimplification."

"But is this nation worth existing for eternity? Stripped of ambitions, the potential for change, it does nothing than simply exist. Such a hollow shell of a nation wouldn't be missed if it were destroyed."

"Yae, retract your words. Never-changing eternity is the promise I made to my people." Ei shook her head in disapproval.

"They don't want your promises." The blonde-haired Traveler interjected, placing her hands on her sides.

"What they want, is you, Ei. Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, everywhere I have traveled, the people there love their Archons because their Archons love them in return. Barbatos may not rule over his people, but he still guides them in his own way, and Morax always takes the time to walk among his subjects. Even now, after his 'death', he continues to watch over them." She recalled the girl from Yinyuan Hall. "There are even those who continue to adore their gods long after they have died, yearning to feel their divine gaze upon them once more. So for you to seclude yourself in your own little world while a proxy rules in your place is just... childish and selfish, in some ways."

"Childish?" The Archon's tone was more bemused than anything.

"I couldn't have said it any better myself. The little one is certainly has more in common with me than I thought." Yae chuckled, giving Lumine a pat on her head, causing Lumine to pout at her, which in turn prompted the woman to chuckle even more.

"My seclusion is necessary..."

"Oh? Does it mean that it was necessary for you to be sad and wallow in misery?" Yae asked with a teasing tone, causing the purple-haired deity's eye to twitch.

"I am not wallowing."

"Then why has the sky that was once so dark suddenly started to glow again?" Yae asked, and Ei immediately averted her gaze from the teaseful Kitsune. "Admit it, you've been lonely. All those centuries in quiet meditation by yourself became unbearable, and seeing me again has made you happy."

Giving up, Ei sighed heavily before shaking her head. "I have nothing to say to that."

"Oh, but I have so much to say to you~" The pink-haired woman chuckled. "Let me tell you all that has happened since you placed your mind in your sword."

"How long will that take?"

"Oh, who can say? It's not like we're short of time, and as a fox envoy, I can recall every detail of the last few centuries with perfect clarity. It's only a shame that we don't have any snacks to go with our conversation." At this, the Archon's calm facade broke, leaving her free to laugh at her old friend's words.

"Yae, I never thought I would have the chance to meet with you like this again. Seeing you is a pleasant change to eternity, and a nice surprise."

"Since you are willing to admit that, I suppose that means we can still be friends?"

"What a foolish question." Ei smiled, turning back towards the Traveler who had listened to their conversation in silence. Ei put a hand on her chest. "Since I have been defeated by you and her plan, I will honor your wish to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree."

Lumine's eyes widened in surprise, she couldn't believe what her ears just heard. "Really? You're going to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree? And returned the stolen Visions back to their owners?" Lumine asked, her voice is filled with a mix of surprise, happiness, and joy.

"I will, I promise you." Ei nodded, her smile did not waver. "But with regards to eternity and the question of whether this nation should move forward, I need time to give it some thought."

Filled with joy and happiness for finally being able to abolish the decree that had caused so much suffering to the people, Lumine felt like she wants to jump around and dance for her victory. But before she could do anything, the golden aura around her faded, and her energy has been completely spent.

"Finally... I'm glad... It's... Finally over." Feeling weak, Lumine fell into her knees.

"Lumine?" Watching the blonde-haired girl suddenly fall to the floor all of a sudden, Ei is concerned about her.

"Sorry... Gonna... Take a nap real quick..." With her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, Lumine closed her eyes before letting herself fell into the ground out cold.

"Aww, poor little thing. Seems like she's completely spent. She may be strong, but I think even this is a little too much for her." Yae said before crouching down and slipping her hands under Lumine's back and legs, picking her up from the ground.

"Miko... There's something I really want to ask you about." Ei's eyes inspect the sleeping Lumine in Yae's arms. "That girl... Is that... Her?"

Yae click her tongue as she shook her head. "Really, Ei, Are you seriously still doubting her after all this time?"

"I... I just don't understand..." Ei furrowed her eyebrows as she shook her head. "She looks like her and fights like her, but inside she's completely different. There was a mark of Celestia buried deep inside her."

"A seal." Yae simply answered.

"A what?"

"There was a seal inside her." Yae repeated. "Apparently, this girl had an encounter with one of the gods of Celestia during the Cataclysm. That God took away her brother, while stranded her in Tevyat by placing a seal that prevented her from using her original powers, that's why she relies on elemental powers now in place of the old ones. Or at least that's what her tiny companion told me." Yae explained with a shrug.

"That... does make sense." Ei nodded, making a concerned expression as she continue to stare at Lumine. "But that doesn't explain why she didn't recognize me... Recognize us."

"It was a memory loss." Yae answered, also looking at Lumine. "It seems like the battle with that god had scarred her, and she's unable to remember anything that happened before the Cataclysm."

The two just stand there in silence. And before long, particles of lights began to surround Miko.

"Oh, it seems like my time is running out." Yae muttered softly. Sighing, she turned around to look at Ei, the Kitsune extended her arms towards the Archon. "Ei, you're the one who caused all of these messes. Be sure you take the responsibility for it."

Although hesitating for a little. Ei eventually takes Lumine from Yae's hands, holding the sleeping blonde girl close to her chest.

"I will. Thank you for everything, Miko. I'll see you later." With a smile, Ei nods her head, watching the Kitsune's consciousness disappear from her realm.

Silence filled the Plane of Euthymia again. With Ei and the unconscious Lumine to be the one remaining inside.

Looking down at the blonde-haired girl, who is now revealed to be the same girl she met and befriended all those years ago, a single tear escaped from Ei's eye as happiness slowly fills her heart.

"After all these years... I can't believe You're still holding our promise."

To be Continued...

---

I hope the doctors won't find out that I've been disobeyed his orders to not overwork myself by writing this chapter. (To be fair, he never specify if it's about physically or mentally.)

Anyways, the next chapter will be the last, and it will be about Ei and Lumine reconnecting their friendship. And also to cure Lumine's memory loss.